Portfolio Committee on Police chairperson Ian Cameron has initiated a 30-day campaign to publish the names, photographs, convictions, and sentences of verified adult sexual offenders using public court records. This move aims to push for greater transparency and public access to information about convicted sexual offenders. The campaign, which started recently, intends to publish at least one photograph, name, verified conviction, and sentence of an adult sexual offender each day.
The campaign comes 19 months after the government committed to making the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) more accessible to the public. However, the register remains closed to the public. Cameron emphasized that the campaign is not an attempt to reproduce the confidential NRSO but to expose the gap between information available through courts and the public's limited access to the register. The campaign will focus only on convictions that can be independently verified through public court records.
The NRSO records people convicted of sexual offenses against children and other vulnerable individuals. While employers working with vulnerable groups can conduct prescribed checks, the register is generally not open to the public. The issue has been under consideration by the Justice Department for over a year. In September 2025, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi stated that the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser had concluded that the register could not be made public under existing law.
According to Kubayi, section 52 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act prohibits the publication of information from the register, except for purposes provided for in the Act or by a competent court. A law of general application would therefore be required, and Kubayi confirmed that she had directed the department to prepare the necessary legislative amendments. However, the progress of these amendments remains unclear.
Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, Build One SA (BOSA) Deputy Leader and Johannesburg mayoral candidate, questioned the delay in finalizing and implementing the amendments. She noted that the government had indicated the amendments had been drafted and circulated for comment, but there was still no clear public timeline for their implementation. Hlazo-Webster emphasized that the public has a legitimate interest in knowing whether the system designed to protect children and vulnerable people is working.
The Kwanele Foundation supports greater public access to the NRSO, citing the need to protect women, children, men, and boys by allowing people to know who has been convicted of sexual offenses. Foundation founder Sihle Sibisi stressed the importance of safeguards, particularly to ensure that victims' names are never published and that information is limited to offenders who have been convicted in court. Sibisi urged the government to speed up the legislative process, especially given the ongoing national crisis of gender-based violence.
Cameron and others have emphasized that public access should not mean publishing addresses, identity numbers, or victims' details. The campaign aims to put renewed pressure on the government to address the lack of public access to information about convicted sexual offenders. The NRSO reportedly contains about 32,000 names, but South Africans currently have no meaningful way of knowing whether someone who poses a known risk is listed.
Key points
- - The campaign aims to publish at least one photograph, name, verified conviction, and sentence of an adult sexual offender each day. - The National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) reportedly contains about 32,000 names. - The government committed to making the NRSO more accessible 19 months ago, but the register remains closed to the public.
