Earlier this year, the Justice Department had announced that the National Register for Sex Offenders (NSRO) was set to go public on 28 February, but that was not the case.
Replying to a post on X, earlier this month, on why the list was not made public, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said there was an urgent court interdict against the publishing of the list. “Still a challenge, even now I have an urgent court application against publishing. We must work together to achieve this. I remain Committed,” the minister’s reply read.
The NRSO was established under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, No. 32 of 2007. It is a record of names of those found guilty of sexual offences against children and people who are mentally disabled.
OVER 32,000 OFFENDERS ON LIST
According to Minister Kubayi, there were currently 32,557 convicted sex offenders on the list, with an additional 10,456 potential entries pending in various courts. However, the delay in making the list public has been met with widespread criticism from some political parties, such as Build One South Africa which has reiterated its call for the public to access the list.
In a statement, the party’s deputy leader Nobantu Hlazo-Webster said: “As it stands, South Africans remain in the dark about known sex offenders living within their communities, posing a serious threat to the safety of women and children.
“We cannot continue to shield convicted sex offenders at the expense of innocent lives. Public access to this register is a necessary step toward accountability and prevention.”
In its statement, the party has announced that it has taken legal action by submitting a formal request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, invoking the “public interest” override outlined in Section 46 of the Act.
“This legal step seeks to compel the government to grant public access to the register, ensuring that citizens have the right to safeguard themselves and their loved ones from known offenders,” the statement further reads.
Earlier in March, the Information Regulator said delaying the publication of the register would allow for a thorough legislative review of its alignment with the Protection of Personal Information Act requirements.
The regulator’s spokesperson Mukelani Dimba told the Citizen publication that while gender-based violence was a scourge that needed to be urgently addressed in South Africa, legally sound steps needed to be taken. “However, in a rules-based society such as South Africa, it is also imperative that such action must fall within the confines of the law,” Dimba said.
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