John Jeffery is confident that the government’s co-ordinated strategy to deal with rape and other sexual offences is starting to show results.
The government is not in denial about the fact that rape and sexual offences in our society remain unacceptably high. Despite many initiatives and interventions, we still face challenges, both in terms of the numbers of sexual offences being committed in our country and the difficulties in bringing the perpetrators to book.
Joy Watson (Cape Times, October 13) writes that there is “no coherent, interdepartmental strategy on the part of the state to deal with rape”. This is not correct.
The government has a very clear and well co-ordinated strategy and we are beginning to see the results thereof – the drop in the number of cases of reported sexual offences being a case in point.
From the side of the government, much has been done. Since 1994, our department has promoted numerous pieces of legislation to combat sexual violence. In 1997, the Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Act brought about changes to the bail laws to ensure that persons who are accused of having committed serious offences such as rape and murder are not released on bail.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act provides for the imposition of minimum sentences in respect of certain serious offences, for example, murder and rape. These sentences are more severe in certain circumstances, for instance, when the death of a person is caused in the commission of a rape or attempted rape; where the victim was raped more than once (either by one person or more); where the rapist has previous convictions for rape; where the victim is under the age of 16; or where grievous bodily harm is inflicted.
Other laws include the Witness Protection Act and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act which modernised the law relating to sexual offences.
In the past five years, several interventions were introduced to address gender-based violence and sexual offences against vulnerable groups. We have reintroduced the specialised Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units, and nationally we now have 176 established FCS units attached to all police clusters within the SAPS. This has resulted in lengthy convictions, achieved through the dedicated work of detectives and prosecutors.
As previous minister of police Nathi Mthetwa indicated last year, since the re-establishment of the FCS units, there were 1 194 life sentences secured over a three-year period: 306 in 2010/2011; 389 in 2011/2012 and 499 in 2012/2013. He also indicated that sentences passed over this period led to a combined 36 225 years of imprisonment. Resourcing and establishing victim-friendly rooms at police service points are continuing. There are 919 victim-friendly facilities rendering support services in place and it is envisaged that this will be rolled out to all police stations.
A major component of our fight against sexual violence really are the Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs), which embody a co-ordinated approach in the way we effectively manage sexual offences. In the 2013/14 financial year, at the 51 TCCs providing services 30 706 matters were reported, of which 2 769 are either trafficking, domestic violence or Children’s Act matters. The remaining number of 27 947 are sexual offences-related.
For the same financial year, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) produced an average conviction rate for TCC cases of 65.9 percent, which was the best conviction rate over a period of five years. Of the 2 357 cases finalised with a verdict, 1 554 (65.9 percent) resulted in convictions. This is also an improvement of 13.3 percent compared to the 2012/13 financial year. During 2013/14, the TCC cases per accused and per offence, which resulted in convictions, included, among others, 151 sentences of life imprisonment, 132 sentences of 20 to 25 years’ imprisonment, and 455 sentences of between 10 and less than 20 years’ imprisonment.
Thuthuzela’s integrated approach to rape care is one of respect, comfort, restoring dignity and ensuring justice for victims of sexual violence. The management of TCC model and roll-out falls within the responsibility of the NPA. The success of it is based upon effective and efficient stakeholder co-operation such as between the departments of Justice, Health, Education, Treasury, Correctional Services, Social Development, the SAPS and designated civil society organisations.
The TCC model is specifically focused on being victim-friendly and court-directed, with prosecutor-guided investigations and stakeholder co-operation. The ultimate goal is to minimise secondary victimisation, reduce the cycle period for the finalisation of cases and to increase the conviction rates of these cases. When reporting a crime, the victim is removed from an environment such as a police station to a more friendly environment before being transported by police or an ambulance to the TCC at the hospital. The person also receives crisis counselling.
If the medical examination happens within 72 hours of the incident, post-exposure prophylaxis is given. The investigating officer on call at the centre will take the person’s statement. The person will receive appropriate medication and is given a follow-up date for further medical treatment before being transported home or a place of safety. A referral letter will be given or an appointment made for long-term counselling.
Before the trial, as part of the TCC model, a case manager will oversee the prosecutor-guided investigation and will ensure that the case is trial and court-ready. The case manager is a legally qualified official with specific additional expertise in dealing with gender-based violence matters.
With regards to the trial, consultations with a specialist prosecutor will take place before the case goes to court, and court preparation by a victim-assistant officer will be undertaken. The person must also be given an explanation of the possible outcome and regular updates of the trial process by the case manager. The Thuthuzela model is an outstanding example of interdepartmental co-operation.
We have also recently re-established the sexual offences courts. These dedicated services use intermediaries, audio-visual equipment and specialised training, among other measures. The NPA’s Sexual Offences and Community Affairs unit developed comprehensive training manuals, which are updated annually to be in line with the latest developments in law for specialist prosecutors and also an integrated training manual for stakeholders at our TCCs.
Through sexual offences courts, we are able to provide specialised victim-support services, improve the effectiveness of witnesses in court, reduce the turnaround time in the finalisation of sexual offences matters and improve conviction rates. The courts aim to minimise secondary trauma for victims.
Rape and sexual offences are more difficult to prosecute for a variety of reasons – often the perpetrator is known or related to the victim or witnesses are hesitant to come forward.
Despite our successes, some broader challenges remain. These include the need for a better understanding of line functions of inter- and intradepartmental structures, and the need for an improved synergy with regards to departmental policy areas for service delivery. In certain instances, a lack of co-ordination and uniformity of services has been identified. Conviction rates are definitely not as high as we would like them to be; continuous specialist training for SAPS members and prosecutors is vital.
I would urge that where there are complaints in the way our criminal justice system has dealt with matters, these must be reported to us, so that we can investigate and take corrective action.
In spite of the challenges that remain, we are confident that the government’s co-ordinated strategy to deal with rape and other sexual offences is starting to show results.
* Jeffery is the deputy minister of justice and constitutional development.
** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media.
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