Children can’t wait: South Africa’s delay on the sex offender register is a betrayal

[Jim Burton]

https://iol.co.za/thepost/opinion/2025- ... -betrayal/

WHY do some convicted child sex offenders reoffend? And why, in 2025, is South Africa still failing to make its National Register for Sex Offenders publicly accessible?

These are not just bureaucratic questions; they cut to the core of how seriously we, as a society, value the safety and dignity of our children. For survivors and those who work in child protection, these questions are not academic. They are urgent, painful and personal. Every delay, every policy failure, every unmonitored offender represents the possibility of another child’s life being shattered.