Shocking figures reveal Sexual Offences court backlog now at over 80%

8 March 2022

Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Werner Horn MP.

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day and the contributions of women to our society, shocking figures reveal how our Justice system is failing sexual offence victims.

Following a parliamentary question the DA submitted earlier this month, it has been revealed that as of 31 December 2021, the backlog of sexual offence cases in our court system stands at 15 605 cases, a staggering 81.4% of all sexual offence cases currently in South Africa. This figure is a massive increase from the already unacceptably high 52.1% backlog in March 2021.

If it is further considered that research of the South African Medical Research Council has previously established that nearly half of rape cases enrolled in South Africa are withdrawn before evidence is led, with about half of these withdrawals being initiated by victims who indicate that they do so because they want to get on with their lives, it is clear that our criminal justice system still fails these victims.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC make bold pronouncements about tackling gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), and prioritizing the prosecution of sexual offences, the vast majority of victims of these crimes wait for justice that may never come. With a backlog as large as this, the hope of achieving timely justice for sexual offence victims appears vanishingly small.

The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, refers to a draft Backlog Reduction Framework which is in the final stages of approval, as a solution to this problem. The DA believes that this is simply too little too late. Action needs to be taken immediately. South Africans are tired of committees and task teams with plans that lead nowhere.

The DA will be writing to the Minister to request that he creates and implements an emergency turn-around plan to address this backlog. The victims of sexual offence crimes deserve justice to be delivered in a swift and effective manner. We will be playing our part in ensuring that our court system does not let them down any longer.

Issued by Werner Horn, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, 8 March 2022