After South Africa experienced a high spike in the reported cases of rape in 2013, then Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe took the decision to reintroduce 22 sexual offences courts in South Africa. Fast forward to 2020, as the country continues to grapple with gender-based violence and femicide, the judiciary has the muscle of 96 courts at its disposal that have been well resourced to deal exclusively with cases of sexual offences.
South Africa’s Sexual Offences Courts, either operates as a pure sexual offences court or a Hybrid court – which would be found in a regional court dedicated for the adjudication of sexual offences cases in any specified area. It is a court that is established to give priority to sexual offences cases, whilst permitted to deal with other cases.
Speaking at the opening of one such court in 2019, Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri highlighted the importance of the courts, emphasizing that in there was a 74 % conviction rate with the courts.
The map below highlights that locations of the various sexual offences courts in South Africa.
