Community Safety
With reference to the support provided by his Department’s Court Watching Brief Unit:
(a) How many (i) gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and (ii) sexual-offences-related cases have been (aa) struck off the roll and (bb) delayed since December 2020 in the province, (b) what are the reason for (aa) and (bb), (c) of the cases referred to in (a)(aa) and (a)(bb), how many that have been struck off the roll or that have been delayed can be attributed to unprocessed DNA evidence and (d) what are the other main reasons for cases of GBVF and sexual offences being struck off the roll?
(a) (i) (aa) The Court Watching Brief (CWB) Unit monitored and recorded 161 cases related to gender-based violence (GBV), femicide and sexual offences cases during the period December 2020 until August 2021. The CWB Unit does not have disaggregated information from the charge sheet as the charge sheet does not separate a GBV case from a femicide case as recorded. The separation can only be determined by the docket once the National Prosecuting Authority made an informed decision.
(bb) The CWB Unit monitors cases struck off the court roll that might have caused delays in the finalisation of a criminal matter.
(ii) (aa) Same as above
(bb) Same as above
(b) In most cases monitored, either the docket was not brought to court or the investigation was not finalised within a reasonable amount of time which causes prejudice to the accused’s right to a speedy trial.
(c) Question was referred to SAPS.
(d) Some of the reasons for cases of GBVF and sexual offences to be struck off the court roll include, but are not limited to the following:
The Complainant will file a withdrawal statement with the investigating officer indicating the reasons why she or he does not want to proceed with the criminal case any further.
The Complainant becomes untraceable for the investigating officer to get hold of for consultation or to testify against the accused.
Some Complainants do not want to suffer secondary trauma by being in close proximity to the accused when having to come to court.
Most often young victims are not able to testify due to trauma or other related factors.
In the majority of cases the DNA evidence is not available within a reasonable time which causes delays to a speedy trial for an accused.
