The
government is considering making the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO)
more accessible, but is wary of making it fully available, TimesLIVE reported on Thursday.
According to Deputy Minister of
Justice John Jeffery, the country had to carefully consider making the register
public, because opening it up could lead to vigilante attacks on those who are
on the list.
"If you suddenly discover
that there is a sex offender or rapist living next door to you and if there is
rape in that community which may not involve that sex offender, they may well
get targeted," he said.
Jeffery told Parliament on
Wednesday that they were also considering expanding the register to include
everyone convicted of a sexual offence.
The
Sexual Offences Act provides that names of people who are convicted of sexual
offences against children or people with mental disabilities must be included
in the register.
READ: Making sexual offenders
registry public a 'recipe for disaster' - legal expert
Only employers – in the public or
private sectors – of people who look after children or people with mental
disabilities can see the register, to check that the person they hire is fit to
work with children or mentally disabled people.
Jeffery said this was not enough and
needed to be widened, possibly to include all sexual offenders. He noted that
managers of women's college residences, for example, do not have to be vetted.
A presentation to the committee
showed that there were 32 570 entries in the register and 24 912 of those had
been validated.
News24 reported in September that social
movement Amandla.mobi petitioned Justice Minister Ronald Lamola to make the
list publicly accessible online, and on mobile platforms that anyone can easily
access.
Daily Maverick noted that the register was
administered by the Department of Justice and was indirectly accessed by the
departments of health and social development, and the South African Police
Service. Names on the register cannot be publicly disclosed and doing so is a
criminal offence.
- Compiled by Jenni Evans
