The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities yesterday (Monday 10 November) reviewed findings from a parliamentary investigation into South Africa’s statutory-rape crisis that exposed gaps in South Africa’s child-protection system.
The investigation followed National Assembly resolutions dating back to August 2024, when former EFF member Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane first raised concerns about South Africa’s statutory-rape crisis. After missing an initial March deadline, Chief Whip of the Majority Party Mdumiseni Ntuli revived the mandate on Tuesday 22 July, designating the women’s committee as lead, with a 30 November deadline.
Committee chairperson Liezl van der Merwe (Inkatha Freedom Party) led provincial engagements in Gauteng and Eastern Cape, bringing government departments, police, prosecutors and child-protection organisations together.
Parliamentary hearings are now underway to shape legislative recommendations, but what investigators found painted a picture of system-wide failures.
The investigation found the Eastern Cape province – which has one of the country’s highest rape rates – also grapples with cultural practices such as ukuthwala, where young girls are forced into marriage. In East London, police reported only 33 statutory-rape cases despite widespread teenage pregnancies. The investigation uncovered a lack of data on special-needs learners and rape cases in special schools.
“It is unacceptable that the reported numbers do not reflect the reality on the ground,” Van der Merwe said in a parliamentary statement.
Parliamentary statements revealed operational breakdowns that deny victims justice. DNA testing backlogs delay investigations. Families pressure victims to withdraw cases due to stigma. Many professionals remain unaware of their legal duty to report suspected abuse.
Parliamentary statements showed that when teachers do attempt to report cases they face bureaucratic obstacles that violate the law itself. Van der Merwe cited one example where a teacher was told to return with a parent to report a statutory rape case, which directly contradicts the Children’s Act requirements.
Traditional leaders highlighted rural challenges including poverty, limited legal awareness and remote police stations, while child-protection organisations described inadequate victim-support systems and compensation practices where parents may receive payment for their children’s abuse.
The committee now faces a deadline of Sunday 30 November to transform these findings into concrete legislative recommendations that could reshape how South Africa protects its most vulnerable children.
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