Over 3000 convicted offenders registered on National Register for Sex Offenders

FILE – Minster of Justice Ronald Lamola addressing media on July 3, 2019. File photo: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)

FILE – Minster of Justice Ronald Lamola addressing media on July 3, 2019. File photo: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Jan 9, 2022

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Cape Town – Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola has revealed that just over 3000 convicted sex offenders were registered on the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) between January 2017 and November 2021.

A breakdown per province indicates that KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of offenders followed by the Western Cape.

Lamola made this revelation in a written parliamentary reply to DA MP Désirée van der Walt who enquired about the total number of offenders who were registered on the NRSO in each province.

The overall total stands at 3 123, as per Lamola’s response. In KZN 640 offenders had been registered for the period under review, with the Western Cape taking the second highest spot at 561.

In third place is the Eastern Cape with 478 offenders registered followed by the Free State with 422.

Gauteng’s figures stood at 283, with Mpumalanga tallying behind at 252. Limpopo had 224 offenders registered, North West at 197 and the Northern Cape recorded the least with only 66 offenders being listed on NRSO.

Lamola pointed out that the data sets kept in the register constantly vary due to the day-to-day activities made in the register, which include entries and removals of particulars of sex offenders.

“As permitted by section 51 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007, certain registered offenders do apply to the Registrar to have their particulars removed from the register. After consideration by the Registrar, some of these applications become successful and this results in constant changes in the total number of sex offenders registered on the register,” he said.

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Political Bureau

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