Minister Lamola to open a Sexual Offences Court in Sibasa
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, will officially open the Sibasa Sexual Offences Court in the Vhembe District in Limpopo on Friday, 13 September 2019. The Sibasa Sexual Offences Court is in line with government’s commitment to fight the scourge of gender based violence.
The sexual offences courts were reintroduced by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2013 to provide specialized redress to victims of sexual abuse and violence and to reduce the turnaround time in finalizing these matters before court. They aim to provide victims centric services and to reduce secondary victimization of victims so that they can get justice.
South Arica currently has 92 sexual offences courts countrywide which contribute towards the curbing of sexual crimes and 16 more courts are set to be rolled out in the 2019/20 financial year. The sexual offences courts are backed by Thuthuzela Care Centres and they continue to yield impressive conviction rates and in the last financial year, the conviction rate stood at 74.4%.
Minister Lamola will be joined by Limpopo MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Dickson Masemola.
Members of the media are invited to the official opening of the Sibasa Sexual Offences Court scheduled as follows:
Date: Friday, 13 September 2019
Venue: Sibasa, Vhembe District, Limpopo
Time: 09h00
Media confirmations:
Sechaba Mphahlele - Media Liaison
Cell: 083 290 9959
Enquiries
Chrispin Phiri - Ministry Spokesperson
Cell: 081 781 2261
