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Cape Town – The backlog in sexual offences cases on the court roll increased by 30% over a period of nine months to a staggering 15 605 last December.<\/p>\n
The increase in the backlog of sexual offences court cases has now prompted the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to develop a Backlog Reduction Framework.<\/p>\n
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola revealed this in his written response to a parliamentary question from DA MP Werner Horn.<\/p>\n
Horn had previously inquired about the total number of cases of sexual offences on the backlog at criminal courts as January 2021 up until January this year.<\/p>\n
In his response, Lamola said the total number of backlog sexual offences cases as of March 31, 2021 stood at 12 557 cases, equalling 52, 1%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe total number of backlog sexual offences cases, as of December 31, stood at 15 605 cases which equal 81,4%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Horn said the shocking figures revealed how the country\u2019s justice system was failing sexual offences victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis figure is a massive increase from the already unacceptably high 52.1% backlog in March 2021,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But, Horn maintained that while President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC made bold pronouncements about tackling gender-based violence and femicide and prioritising the prosecution of sexual offences, the vast majority of victims of these crimes wait for justice that may never come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a backlog as large as this, the hope of achieving timely justice for sexual offence victims appears vanishingly small,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lamola on the other hand also in order to help reduce the backlogs concerned, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has consulted upon the draft Framework on the Management of Case Backlogs and Priority Matters.<\/p>\n
He said the draft framework, which was in the final stages of approval, would be submitted and consulted upon with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster for implementation purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo of the seven priority areas in the draft backlog framework includes an agreement on the fast-tracking and prioritisation of gender-based violence matters as well as matters involving children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamola further indicated that the Backlog Reduction Framework created a dedicated structure to monitor and report on the numbers of cases on a weekly and monthly basis to the local case-flow management committees up to the national backlog cases task team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the framework is to consult upon and agree on a strategy to reduce backlogs in courts, which will include the development and adoption of the JCPS framework for the management of backlog and priority criminal cases in regional and district courts to further include the development and signature of a memorandum of understanding between all the relevant role-playing departments and entities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamola said every department and entity needed to take responsibility for the management of the issues in the process-flow of criminal cases under its control to contribute to fast-tracking relevant criminal cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will contribute towards the reduction of backlog and priority criminal cases in the courts, and thus, contribute towards the access to justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Horn said the Backlog Reduction Framework Lamola referred to as a solution to the problem of case backlogs was simply too little too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cAction needs to be taken immediately. <\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Africans are tired of committees and task teams with plans that lead nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said his party would be writing to Lamola to request him to create and implement an emergency turn-around plan to address the case backlog.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe victims of sexual offence crimes deserve justice to be delivered in a swift and effective manner,\u201d Horn added.<\/p>\n
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za<\/p>\n
Political Bureau<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cape Town – The backlog in sexual offences cases on the court roll increased by 30% over a period of nine months to a staggering 15 605 last December. The increase in the backlog of sexual offences court cases has now prompted the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to develop a Backlog Reduction Framework. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[8636,450,536,383,11623,11090,7800,11622,160],"class_list":["post-55908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-backlog","tag-cases","tag-court","tag-deal","tag-drafted","tag-framework","tag-offences","tag-reduction","tag-sexual"],"yoast_head":"\n