Make sex offenders’ register public

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa, the Department of Health and the SAPS are failing the children of South Africa.

This comes after Gauteng police opened an investigation into allegations that a two year old was raped during her stay in a Covid-19 isolation room. According to an aunt, the girl was referred to the Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Pretoria on June 15, because she was struggling to breathe.

Hospital staff told the mother to go home. Upon discharge the next day, the mother realised the child was not herself and discovered that she was sexually assaulted.

After being sent from one place to the next for over two weeks, the report has finally been handed over to the Gauteng Department of Health to investigate.

Action Society, a civil rights organisation, calls on the government and the public to hunt down the perpetrator. It is unacceptable for a child to be placed under the protection of the state and something like this happens. President Ramaphosa must stop making empty promises about the well-being of women and children.

Sexual offences against children are rising and radical action is needed.

By making the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) public, we, the Action Society, agree that the rights of South African civilians will finally outweigh those of criminals who are protected by our law.

We ought to know if we can truly trust the people we are forced to leave our children with.

As long as the NRSO is kept confidential, numerous offenders still target vulnerable people in our society.

DALEEN GOUWS | Action Society