REACTION TO THE SA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPORT

Issued by: Ministry: Justice and Constitutional Development

24 April 2002

The Ministry for Justice and Constitutional Development, has noted the findings by the South African Human Rights Commission yesterday into the abuse of children and the manner in which the justice system is responding to the plight of the abuse victims. The Ministry therefore wishes to place of record that contrary to what is reflected by the commission in the report, a lot has been done to make the system user friendly to victims.

The Government has recognised many of the problems that exist with regard to crimes against women and children, and has given a high priority to improving the criminal justice system's response to these crimes.

Some of the initiatives undertaken thus far have been the following:

• The creation of specialised family violence, child abuse and sexual assault (FCS) units in the police (formally known as Child Protection Units).
• The implementation of the Minimum Sentences Act has resulted in many harsh sentences being imposed upon convicted rapists (especially child rapists).
• The South African Law Commission is in the process of drafting proposed legislative changes to our sexual offences law. These proposed laws, contained in Discussion Papers 85 and 102 of Project 107 will bring about drastic changes to the present Southrican law in this regard. They will repeal many of the archaic laws that are mired in patriarchal ideology and
• The repeal of the common law crime of rape. The new definition will be gender neutral, and will broaden the present definition of the sexual act required. Penetration is no longer limited to the insertion of the male penis into the female vagina. Inseon of the penis into the mouth or anus of another person (regardless of their gender) will be sufficient. In addition, any object inserted into the genital organs of another person in a manner that simulates sexual intercourse, will likewise be sufficient to constitute penetration under the new definition.
• The creation of a new crime of child prostitution. Included in this new law, is the provision for the prohibition of the organisation and promotion of child sex tours. The new law also aims to punish certain forms of harmful HIV related behaviour.
• Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit (SOCA)

The SOCA Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa was established in October of 1999. Despite still being in its infancy, the Unit has already made an extremely valuable contribution to the fight against sexual offences.

The objectives of the sexual offences section of the Unit are briefly:

Some of the initiatives already undertaken and planned by the Unit in the short time since it inception are:

• Conducting multi-disciplinary training seminars in all nine provinces. A total of 500 delegates, including prosecutors, police, magistrates and doctors have been trained in the specialised field of prosecuting sexual offences.
• The Unit has established 20 sexual offences court throughout the country. These courts deal only with sexual offences and are manned by specialist prosecutors. Depending on the availability of funding, the Unit still aims to roll out six more courts t year. The incidence of sexual offences, particularly rape, has reached starling proportions in South Africa:
• A more private setting to interview victims.
• Eliminating the system whereby victims are required to repeat their stories to different persons during the course of the prosecution.
• Ensuring that only prosecutors that have specific expertise and interest in the field of sexual offences handle the cases.
• Directing victims to the appropriate medical and counselling services.

It is also necessary to recognise that sexual offences are more difficult to prosecute than other crimes. This is mainly due to the intimate nature of the evidence that needs to be elicited from the victim, and the plethora of evidentiary hurdles that have to be overcome in order to secure a conviction. To alleviate these concerns, some countries have introduced specialist sexual offences courts.

South Africa has also recognised the complexities involved in prosecuting sexual offences, and has followed the international trend of introducing specialist sexual offences courts. The first South African specialist sexual offences court was opened at the Wynberg Regional Court in Cape Town in March 1993. The objectives of the court were to reduce or eliminate insensitive treatment and secondary victimisation of sexual offence victims.

The SOCA Unit has embarked upon the process of rolling-out many sexual offences courts. Depending upon funds, the Unit aims to establish a specialist court in every regional court in the country.

Indeed Prosecutors need to be dedicated to the prosecution of sexual offences and are required to have a minimum of 5 years experience. 2 prosecutors would man each court.

• The Unit has established three rape-care centres (known as "Thuthuzela centres) in various parts of the country. The first Thuthuzela centre was opened in June 2000 at the request of the Minister of Justice, Dr Penuell Maduna, and is housed within theoste Hospital Manenberg. The centre is linked to three police stations (Manenberg, Guguletu and Khayelitsha) and one specialised sexual offences court in Wynberg. The centre acts as a 'one-stop shop' for rape-care management, streamlining a network of existing investigative, prosecutorial, medical and psychological services in the hospital where it is located. The collaborative effort adopted by the Thuthuzela ensures that the survivor is treated with the care and dignity that he or she deserves.
• In order to equip prosecutors of sexual offences with the necessary ammunition needed to obtain convictions in these cases, the Unit has embarked on an extensive training program for prosecutors. Besides the seminars referred to above, the Unit also pishes a quarterly bulletin on sexual offences that is distributed to all prosecutors. This bulletin contains an update of all the latest legal developments apposite the sexual offences, thus enabling prosecutors to prepare effectively for cases.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANTI-RAPE STRATEGY

In March 2000, the Cabinet directed the departments of Safety and Security and Health to develop a strategy for the release of information relating to sexual offences, which was to be linked to the process of developing a strategy on rape. In fulfilling this mandate, an Inter-Departmental Management Team (IDMT) was formed and chaired by the National Prosecuting Authority. The departments of Safety and Security, Health and Social Development are represented on the IDMT. The assistance of a strategy development consultancy, the Monitor Company was enlisted by the IDMT to implement a specific segment of the mandate, which was named Project Zero as it was a scooping exercise, which would inform the framework for the strategy.

The first phase of the project consisted of a situational analysis of 3 sites to obtain an overview of the management of rape cases by the criminal justice system. Three sites were chosen for this purpose: Soweto, Cape Town and the East Rand. The localities of Soweto and Cape Town were identified because of the victim support centres operating there, namely the Nthabiseng Support Centre and the Thuthuzela Care Centre respectively. The East Rand was then chosen as the control and reference sample, as there is no formal initiative aimed at reducing secondary victimisation and improving the conviction rate in sexual assault cases in the area.

• The Unit is in the process of establishing a Crisis Management Team that will be specifically tasked with the identification and prosecution of infant rape. The mobile specialist unit will follow the methodology of prosecution driven investigation. Thwill ensure that cases are properly investigated, thus preventing situations where matters are withdrawn due to shoddy investigation. The Crisis Management Team will be especially effective in remote areas that do not have the required resources in order to conduct a specialist prosecution of this nature.