10-YEAR EXPOSURE FOR SEX OFFENDERS

MBABANE – It’s only a matter of time before 101 rapists’ names are published for all to see. These are rape convicts who have been convicted after the enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act in June last year.

According to the dictates of the Act, a National Register for Sex Offenders and designation of Registrar of the Register has to be established.
This will contain particulars of persons convicted of any sexual offence or who have been dealt with in terms of the law.

“The objects of the register are to protect victims of sexual offences, particularly children and persons who are physically or mentally disabled against sexual offenders,” Section 57 of the Act states.

The details to be contained in the Register are the person’s title, actual or estimated age, full names and surname, any known nickname, the profession and trade of the person, last known physical address, identity number, passport number and driver’s licence number. 

erased

Worth noting is that the names will appear in the list for 10 years after which it will be erased if the offender has not committed a similar crime.
The list will then be placed in public spaces for all to view, for now, the  Ministry of Justice and DPM’s office are places most likely to have the list as soon as it is released. His Majesty’s Correctional Services has confirmed that 101 inmates were convicted of the crime of rape last year.

Gugu Dlamini, the Public Relations Officer, said the 101 were convicted specifically for rape between the month of May and December 2018.
Swaziland Action Group aga- inst Abuse Communications Officer Silindelo Nkosi said: “We have had consultations with the Gender Unit under the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and other stakeholders over the establishment of the register. We are only tying up a few logistics which include who will be the custodian of the register.”

Minors

When asked about sexual offenders who are minors at the time of conviction, Nkosi said her understanding was that cases of minors were handled differently.
Save the Children’s Lusito Tsela said early in the week his organisation approached the Royal Eswatini Police Services as a first step to compiling the list.
“We are almost reaching conclusion of the first step from our side, he said.

Consultations made by this reporter revealed that  South Africa is among the few countries that have such a register. “South Africa’s National Register for Sexual Offenders was established in 2007 and completed in 2010. The report is released annually by the National Department of Justice,” said a source.
SA’s Registrar for NRSO is Ntombi Matjila.

In Nigeria in the Lagos state, there are currently 12 000 sex offenders registered since 2015 .
Botswana is said to be in the process of setting up one.  “President Mokgweetsi Masisi mentioned these intentions of registering sex offenders in his inaugural State of the Nation Address in November 2018,” said a journalist from Botswana.

Ghana and Kenya did not seem to have one in place as the responses obtained from journalists from that country were to the negative.

prosecutor

A prosecutor for SODV cases, Futhi Gamedze, said the register should have been in place by now, considering that the Act came into effect on August 1, 2018.
When asked about cases of minors who are convicted of rape, Gamedze said there were various categories of minors. “The Child Protection and Welfare Act states that a child’s criminal capacity starts at the age of 12 years. We also have the 12 to 14 category where we need to determine if that child appreciates if they have committed a crime. At the age of 15 to 18 the children can be declared sexual offenders.”

Gamedze, however, said the relevant stakeholders have not yet determined whether those children’s names will go into the register. She said there could possibly be exceptions just like minor offenders’ fingerprints are no longer taken.

When asked what would be done to ensure that people who were taken in for rape would have actually committed that crime to prevent a situation whereby innocent people would be convicted for a crime they have never committed, Gamedze said, “The prosecution is very critical on that. That is why we only prosecute cases where there is sufficient evidence.”

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