Pretoria - As part of the fight against sexual violence, the Department of Justice and Correctional Services will in the 2014/15 financial year, establish twelve more sexual offences courts.
The courts will be an addition to the 22 that were established last year, Minister Michael Masutha told a media briefing ahead of his Budget Vote to the National Assembly, this evening.
The plan, Minister Masutha said, is to re-establish 106 Sexual Offences Courts over a period of 10 years.
“Through Sexual Offences Courts, we are able to provide specialised victim-support services, improve the effectiveness of witnesses in the execution of their role in court; reduce the turnaround time in the finalisation of sexual offences matters and improve the conviction rates.”
The concept of sexual offences courts was introduced in South Africa in 1993 and by the end of 2005; there were 74 sexual offences courts countrywide.
The special courts had been phased out over the years because of budget constraints. They were reintroduced last August.
The courts have been labelled as responsive and effective; they reduce secondary victimisation, improve the skills of court personnel, speed up the finalisation of cases and contribute to their efficient prosecution and adjudication, for the country which has one of the highest sexual crime cases.
They feature specially trained officials, procedures and equipment to reduce the chance of secondary trauma for victims.
The Department’s Chief Operating Officer Khotso Dewee said the department has allocated R100 million for the running of the sexual offences courts.
This, he said, was because of the occurrence of the sexual offences and the seriousness the department wants to deal with the scourge and have a national footprint.
Turning to promoting human rights and the rights of vulnerable people, Minister Masutha announced that South Africa’s Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The minister said together with Chapter 9 institutions and civil society organisations; they have launched the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Programme in April 2014.
This, he said, will guide the department’s intervention to the growing victimisation of LGBTI persons. - SAnews.gov.za
