Effective from earlier this month, no bail may be granted to persons charged with rape even if the victim was in a domestic relationship with the perpetrator.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on Wednesday during the National Women’s Day celebrations at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
“Such bail applications must be formally applied for in court. If the accused was in a domestic relationship with the alleged victim, the court has to issue a protection order against them before releasing them on bail,” said Ramaphosa.
He added: “Also effective from earlier this month, gang or serial rapists face life imprisonment, as do perpetrators of date rape, marital rape, child rape and incest”.
He said the violence perpetrated by men against women and girls was an assault on common humanity.
Ramaphosa decried that women did not feel safe in their homes, on the street, in places of work and study and worship.
He referred back to the first Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in 2018, which made a firm commitment to undertake a comprehensive, effective and united response.
Government interventions three years ago also included an extensive consultative process, the National Strategic Plan to Combat Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
Since then, said Ramaphosa, it has made important progress.
“Women complained that whenever women who had been abused or violated reported their abuse to police, they were often met by insensitive police officers at police stations who do not treat their cases with the seriousness and urgency they deserve,” he said.
He said government was listening and ensured that the injustice was addressed.
Ramaphosa said more than 12 000 police members had received training to respond effectively to gender-based violence and to focus on the needs of victims.
More than one million DNA collection kits had also been delivered to police stations around the country since 2019.
There were now just over 1000 victim friendly rooms at police stations countrywide, he said, adding that over the last year three new Thuthuzela Care Centres for victims of gender-based violence were opened, bringing the national total to 62.
“We are improving access to shelters and associated services for survivors of gender-based violence,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that last January he signed into law three key pieces of legislation, namely the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act, and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act.
“These new laws provide greater protection to survivors of gender-based violence, to ensure that perpetrators are no longer able to evade prosecution, and to strengthen measures to prevent gender-based violence,” he said.
He said government was also piloting a system in a number of provinces that would enable victims of domestic violence to apply for protection orders online.
“Awareness raising and social behaviour change programmes are taking place in schools, at places of higher learning, in communities and through door-to-door campaigns”.
And yet, he said, despite progress on many fronts, women and children were still being abused, raped, assaulted and murdered by men.
“This tells us that it is not enough for our laws to change, for our policing to improve, for survivors to receive better care and support,” Ramaphosa said.
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