Kubayi announced last month that the sex offenders register would be published by the end of February.

The minister stated there was an urgent need to release the names of sex offenders to help curb violence against society’s most vulnerable groups — women and children.

Following a two-year call to make the register available to the public, Bosa acting spokesperson Roger Solomons, sternly said Kubayi has exactly 24 hours to deliver on her promise.

“We are now putting the minister on notice, she has exactly 24 hours to make good on her promise and release the list to the public.

“Failure to do so, will leave Bosa with no choice but to embark on mass public action to demand accountability and justice,” said Solomons.

Bosa deputy leader Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster said in a television interview that the register would alert the public of the listed offenders in child-friendly spaces.

“Preschools or schools are not the only places where children are found - children are in public spaces. As caregivers, parents and guardians, you want to have some sort of access to a register like that in order to be able to protect your children,” she said.

Hlazo-Webster reiterated that publishing the register would expose the identities of offenders, and especially warn the public of repeat offenders who are roaming the communities.

“We often talk about who the victim is, particularly those cases that become high profile and are in the public, but we are not able to identify who was the perpetrator.

“Once a perpetrator is outside of prison, we then have situations where you often have repeat offenders because there’s no way of identifying them,” said Hlazo-Webster.

She affirmed that releasing the register would significantly help reduce the occurence of violence perpetrated against women and children.

“We have one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world; (publishing the register) is one of the preventative measures that can be put in place to prevent further escalation of violence against children,” said Hlazo-Webster.

With Bosa garnering almost 20 000 public signatures, Hlazo-Webster said some political parties have declared their support to release the register.

“There is quite a lot of support from other parties for the sexual offenders register to be made public,” she said.

She further indicated that she has submitted parliamentary questions to Kubayi about a detailed plan in releasing the sex offenders list.

Among other submitted questions, Hlazo-Webster asked how many offenders will listed on the date of publishing.

Media reports stated that the register has 32 501 active offenders, who were convicted for sexual crimes.

“Our communities deserve to know who these offenders are — those who roam our streets, enter our workplaces, and infiltrate our homes, often putting our children at risk,” said Solomons.

The Star

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