South Africa: Release the National Register for Sex Offenders Now
The Issue
South Africa: Release the National Register for Sex Offenders Now
South Africans deserve to know whether people convicted of serious sexual offences are living and working in their communities.
In 2025, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development announced an intention to make South Africa's National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) publicly accessible. The original intention was for the register to become public by the end of February 2025.
That did not happen.
Government subsequently stated that existing legislation, particularly confidentiality and disclosure provisions in the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act, prevented publication in its proposed form. The government also committed to pursuing legislative changes to make the register generally accessible.
Yet the register remains unavailable to the general public.
The South African Government itself describes the NRSO as a record of people convicted of sexual offences against children and other vulnerable persons. Its stated purpose is to prevent registered offenders from obtaining positions where they could pose a risk to vulnerable people.
The question we must now ask is:
Why should information designed to protect vulnerable people remain inaccessible to the wider public?
South Africa is facing an enormous crisis of sexual violence
The first South African National Gender-Based Violence Study found that 35.8% of South African women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime.
That is more than one in three women.
Between January and March 2025 alone, SAPS recorded 13,452 sexual offences, including 10,688 reported rapes.
These are not abstract statistics. They represent women and children whose lives have been permanently changed or destroyed.
And right now, women are being found dead across Ekurhuleni
Over the past two months, multiple women's bodies have been discovered in and around Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Kwa-Thema and surrounding areas.
Police have established a specialised multidisciplinary investigation involving detectives, forensic experts and other specialised resources.
As of the latest confirmed reporting, eight women's deaths had been brought into the investigation. There are now reports of a tenth body being discovered, although the latest figure should be confirmed by SAPS as the investigation develops.
Some of the victims were found partially or completely undressed, and reports have raised concerns about possible sexual violence.
Police have correctly warned that it is too early to conclude that all of these deaths were committed by one person. Investigators are examining whether there are links between the cases, whether multiple perpetrators are involved, or whether the cases are unrelated.
That uncertainty is precisely why every lawful investigative resource matters.
When women are disappearing and being found murdered under circumstances that may have similarities, investigators need access to every piece of information that could help identify patterns, connections and potential suspects.
The government already recognises the problem of repeat sexual offending
In 2025, the Minister of Justice stated that more than 60,000 DNA samples had been processed during the 2024/25 financial year to assist in tracking repeat sexual offenders and serial rapists.
South Africa therefore already recognises that repeat sexual offending is a serious public-safety and investigative issue.
The NRSO exists because the state itself recognises that information about convicted sexual offenders can be relevant to protecting vulnerable people.
The question is whether that protection should stop at institutions such as schools, hospitals and care facilities, or whether ordinary South Africans should also have lawful access to information relevant to their own safety.
Uyinene Mrwetyana must never be forgotten
In 2019, 19-year-old Uyinene Mrwetyana went to a Post Office in Claremont to collect a parcel.
She was raped and murdered by Post Office employee Luyanda Botha.
Botha pleaded guilty and received three life sentences.
Importantly, Botha had previous criminal convictions. Following Uyinene's murder, the government investigated how he had remained employed by the South African Post Office despite his criminal record.
The investigation found that the State Security Agency had previously flagged hundreds of Post Office employees with criminal records, including Botha.
There was also a previous attempted-rape complaint against Botha dating from 2014. That matter later returned to court after the complainant recognised him from media coverage surrounding Uyinene's murder. Botha was ultimately found not guilty of that attempted-rape charge.
We cannot say with certainty that a public sex-offender register would have prevented Uyinene's murder.
But we can ask a reasonable question:
Would greater access to reliable information about people with relevant criminal histories have given institutions or individuals an additional opportunity to identify risk?
South Africans deserve an honest answer to that question.
Rehabilitation and public safety must not be treated as opposites
We recognise that rehabilitation is an important part of the criminal justice system.
We also recognise that releasing personal information can create risks, including vigilantism, harassment and violence against former offenders.
Those concerns must be addressed.
But protecting former offenders from vigilantism must not mean leaving communities without meaningful information about people who have been convicted of serious sexual offences.
This petition is not a call for mob justice.
It is not a call for harassment.
It is not a call for people to take the law into their own hands.
It is a call for a lawful, transparent and properly regulated public-safety system.
A system that protects victims.
A system that protects children.
A system that protects women.
A system that respects due process while recognising that public safety must remain a central consideration.
We are calling for action
We call upon the South African Government, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Parliament and all relevant authorities to:
Make the National Register for Sex Offenders publicly accessible without further unnecessary delay.
Introduce the legislative amendments necessary to enable lawful public access to the register.
Establish clear rules governing what information is made public and how that information may be used.
Protect victims' identities and sensitive personal information.
Establish safeguards against harassment, vigilantism, threats and unlawful use of information contained in the register.
Create a transparent mechanism for correcting inaccurate information and challenging unlawful inclusion.
Ensure that rehabilitation and reintegration remain part of the criminal-justice system while also addressing the risk of repeat offending.
Provide South Africans with a clear implementation timeline and regular public reporting on progress.
South Africa cannot continue to debate access to information about serious sexual offenders while women remain vulnerable to sexual violence.
We cannot know whether every case can be prevented.
We cannot know whether every registered offender represents a continuing danger.
But we do know that the South African Government itself created the National Register for Sex Offenders because information about sexual offenders matters to public protection.
We also know that the government announced its intention to make the register publicly accessible and subsequently said legislative amendments were necessary to achieve that goal.
The public has been told that change is necessary.
Now we are asking:
Where is that change?
Women should not have to die before we ask whether we could have known more about the people around them.
We therefore call on the South African Government to make the National Register for Sex Offenders publicly accessible through a lawful, transparent and properly regulated system.
Release the register.
Protect the public.
Act now.
27
The Issue
South Africa: Release the National Register for Sex Offenders Now
South Africans deserve to know whether people convicted of serious sexual offences are living and working in their communities.
In 2025, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development announced an intention to make South Africa's National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) publicly accessible. The original intention was for the register to become public by the end of February 2025.
That did not happen.
Government subsequently stated that existing legislation, particularly confidentiality and disclosure provisions in the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act, prevented publication in its proposed form. The government also committed to pursuing legislative changes to make the register generally accessible.
Yet the register remains unavailable to the general public.
The South African Government itself describes the NRSO as a record of people convicted of sexual offences against children and other vulnerable persons. Its stated purpose is to prevent registered offenders from obtaining positions where they could pose a risk to vulnerable people.
The question we must now ask is:
Why should information designed to protect vulnerable people remain inaccessible to the wider public?
South Africa is facing an enormous crisis of sexual violence
The first South African National Gender-Based Violence Study found that 35.8% of South African women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime.
That is more than one in three women.
Between January and March 2025 alone, SAPS recorded 13,452 sexual offences, including 10,688 reported rapes.
These are not abstract statistics. They represent women and children whose lives have been permanently changed or destroyed.
And right now, women are being found dead across Ekurhuleni
Over the past two months, multiple women's bodies have been discovered in and around Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Kwa-Thema and surrounding areas.
Police have established a specialised multidisciplinary investigation involving detectives, forensic experts and other specialised resources.
As of the latest confirmed reporting, eight women's deaths had been brought into the investigation. There are now reports of a tenth body being discovered, although the latest figure should be confirmed by SAPS as the investigation develops.
Some of the victims were found partially or completely undressed, and reports have raised concerns about possible sexual violence.
Police have correctly warned that it is too early to conclude that all of these deaths were committed by one person. Investigators are examining whether there are links between the cases, whether multiple perpetrators are involved, or whether the cases are unrelated.
That uncertainty is precisely why every lawful investigative resource matters.
When women are disappearing and being found murdered under circumstances that may have similarities, investigators need access to every piece of information that could help identify patterns, connections and potential suspects.
The government already recognises the problem of repeat sexual offending
In 2025, the Minister of Justice stated that more than 60,000 DNA samples had been processed during the 2024/25 financial year to assist in tracking repeat sexual offenders and serial rapists.
South Africa therefore already recognises that repeat sexual offending is a serious public-safety and investigative issue.
The NRSO exists because the state itself recognises that information about convicted sexual offenders can be relevant to protecting vulnerable people.
The question is whether that protection should stop at institutions such as schools, hospitals and care facilities, or whether ordinary South Africans should also have lawful access to information relevant to their own safety.
Uyinene Mrwetyana must never be forgotten
In 2019, 19-year-old Uyinene Mrwetyana went to a Post Office in Claremont to collect a parcel.
She was raped and murdered by Post Office employee Luyanda Botha.
Botha pleaded guilty and received three life sentences.
Importantly, Botha had previous criminal convictions. Following Uyinene's murder, the government investigated how he had remained employed by the South African Post Office despite his criminal record.
The investigation found that the State Security Agency had previously flagged hundreds of Post Office employees with criminal records, including Botha.
There was also a previous attempted-rape complaint against Botha dating from 2014. That matter later returned to court after the complainant recognised him from media coverage surrounding Uyinene's murder. Botha was ultimately found not guilty of that attempted-rape charge.
We cannot say with certainty that a public sex-offender register would have prevented Uyinene's murder.
But we can ask a reasonable question:
Would greater access to reliable information about people with relevant criminal histories have given institutions or individuals an additional opportunity to identify risk?
South Africans deserve an honest answer to that question.
Rehabilitation and public safety must not be treated as opposites
We recognise that rehabilitation is an important part of the criminal justice system.
We also recognise that releasing personal information can create risks, including vigilantism, harassment and violence against former offenders.
Those concerns must be addressed.
But protecting former offenders from vigilantism must not mean leaving communities without meaningful information about people who have been convicted of serious sexual offences.
This petition is not a call for mob justice.
It is not a call for harassment.
It is not a call for people to take the law into their own hands.
It is a call for a lawful, transparent and properly regulated public-safety system.
A system that protects victims.
A system that protects children.
A system that protects women.
A system that respects due process while recognising that public safety must remain a central consideration.
We are calling for action
We call upon the South African Government, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Parliament and all relevant authorities to:
Make the National Register for Sex Offenders publicly accessible without further unnecessary delay.
Introduce the legislative amendments necessary to enable lawful public access to the register.
Establish clear rules governing what information is made public and how that information may be used.
Protect victims' identities and sensitive personal information.
Establish safeguards against harassment, vigilantism, threats and unlawful use of information contained in the register.
Create a transparent mechanism for correcting inaccurate information and challenging unlawful inclusion.
Ensure that rehabilitation and reintegration remain part of the criminal-justice system while also addressing the risk of repeat offending.
Provide South Africans with a clear implementation timeline and regular public reporting on progress.
South Africa cannot continue to debate access to information about serious sexual offenders while women remain vulnerable to sexual violence.
We cannot know whether every case can be prevented.
We cannot know whether every registered offender represents a continuing danger.
But we do know that the South African Government itself created the National Register for Sex Offenders because information about sexual offenders matters to public protection.
We also know that the government announced its intention to make the register publicly accessible and subsequently said legislative amendments were necessary to achieve that goal.
The public has been told that change is necessary.
Now we are asking:
Where is that change?
Women should not have to die before we ask whether we could have known more about the people around them.
We therefore call on the South African Government to make the National Register for Sex Offenders publicly accessible through a lawful, transparent and properly regulated system.
Release the register.
Protect the public.
Act now.
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Petition created on 16 September 2026