• The Build One South Africa (BOSA) party is looking for the support of South Africans to seek the public disclosure of the national sex offender registry.
• While South Africa’s justice department has a sex offender list, it is kept confidential.
• The party argues that fully disclosing the names on the list could prevent future occurrences of gender-based violence.

Mmusi Maimane’s Build One South Africa (BOSA) party has launched an online petition seeking to change the way normal South Africans can access the country’s national sex offender registry. The party calls the existing method to access the registry “time-consuming” as it involved paying R150 and waiting a minimum of six weeks before you receive access.

“This practice discourages transparency and inhibits the naming and shaming of sexual offenders – a necessary step towards accountability. We are petitioning to the concerned authorities to make the NRSO publicly accessible and user-friendly,” said Maimane on a post on X.

“We believe that the ease of access to such information is crucial to the security and well-being of our communities, particularly the most vulnerable among us.”

Like the United States, South Africa’s Department of Justice keeps a list of registered sex offenders living in the country, but unlike the United States which runs an easy-to-use website to find out if someone has committed any sexual-related offenses, South Africa’s own is confidential.

“The Register is not open to the public and is kept confidential. Anyone found guilty of sexual offence against children and mentally disabled people is put on the Register,” the Department of Justice explains.

Those registered on the list are prohibited from working with children or people with mental disabilities. They are also prohibited from adopting children or acting as foster parents.

The petition launched by BOSA already has over 2 600 signatures and is quickly heading to its next goal of 5 000, days after launching.

“Making the NRSO public will be a significant step towards deterring sexual offenders and those who abuse women, and holding them accountable. Increased transparency in this area will also promote community vigilance, also aiding in the fight against sexual abuse and gender-based violence,” the party says.

Signatories are saying that a publically available sex offender list would discourage future acts of sexual violence and similar.

“I want full disclosure of the sexual offenders register so that accountability takes place. Also shaming all the people who are registered so that they don’t continue to do all these heinous acts in our country or elsewhere for that matter,” one user said.

BOSA is now able to bring these matters to Parliament after the May elections, and says that making the registry public is in support of the ongoing fight to end gender-based violence in South Africa. In an interview, Deputy leader of BOSA, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, says that the disclosure of names on the list will help prevent the furthering of the “scourge of gender-based violence.”

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