Submitted by crinadmin on
Nine out of 10 child rape victims in Gauteng face repeated delays in their alleged abusers' trials - because there are no trained staff available to help them through their often traumatic testimony. This is according to a draft report commissioned last year by the Justice Department, which reveals that the government has been aware of the current child rape case crisis in the country's courts - caused by a lack of intermediaries and working CCTV equipment and witness rooms - for at least four years. The revelations come as Justice director-general Menzi Simelane faces increasing criticism from the National Prosecuting Authority and children's rights groups over "discrepancies" in his account to the Constitutional Court of the services available to child rape victims. Simelane and his department are also facing tough questions from the Constitutional Court about how they plan to deal with the chronic lack of trained intermediaries available to assist child rape victims - who, in 86 per cent of SA's courts, are forced to confront their abusers face-to-face and unassisted. Central to the crisis is the department's failure to permanently appoint the trained staff needed to help children. Simelane has admitted that the department had only half the 305 intermediaries it needed to assist traumatised child victims and witnesses. According to court documents filed at the Constitutional Court on Monday, Childline SA claimed the Justice Department "in most provinces" was paying social workers and teachers appointed as intermediaries "an ordinary witness fee of R150 a day to cover both their transport to court and their time there". "People in private practice find this hopelessly inadequate for a full day in court," it said. Childline and the Centre for Child Law have also taken issue with Simelane's interpretation that an intermediary should be "a social worker who has been counselling the child from the outset". "This is incorrect, as an intermediary should (be) somebody who is neutral and has the capacity to establish rapport with the child." Like the NPA, Childline and the Centre for Child Law have asked that Simelane "be requested to file more detailed and substantiated reports" on how the department was dealing with, and planned to deal with, the treatment of child rape victims in courts. The Justice Department yesterday did not respond to queries about Simelane's response to the criticism of his report. Nor has it commented on whether Simelane would file any further documents clarifying the concerns raised by the NPA and children's rights groups. Further information