Note to editors: the written replies can be accessed here and here.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) is perplexed by government’s reticence in refusing to disclose how many of the 1.3 million civil servants are listed on the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO).
In response to two written parliamentary questions submitted by BOSA, both the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Minister of Public Service and Administration have avoided providing a direct answer.
When asked how many civil servants appear on the NRSO, the Minister of Justice, Mmamoloko Kubayi said that “the total number of the individuals who are currently employed in the public sector… cannot be determined.”
When asked how many civil servants had been screened against the Register, the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Mzamo Buthelezu, deflected responsibility, stating that “The identification and management of individuals listed on the Register… rests with departments in accordance with their delegated authority and HR responsibilities.”
If individual departments are responsible for this information, then the Ministers of Justice and Public Service must ensure it is collected, consolidated, and made transparent. Anything less is a dereliction of duty.
This underscores BOSA’s long standing fight to make the NRSO publicly accessible. We will today write to Minister Kubayi to request timelines as to when the register will be made public. It has now been 131 days since her announcement of intention to make the register public on 30 January this year.
South Africans deserve to know that their children, patients, students, and the public at large are not being placed in the care or supervision of known sexual offenders, particularly those employed at state institutions.
The purpose of the National Register for Sex Offenders is to protect the vulnerable from convicted sexual predators. That objective is completely undermined if the public sector is allowed to turn a blind eye to who it employs.
It is unacceptable that in 2025, the government cannot tell citizens whether civil servants have been screened against the NRSO, let alone how many are listed.
BOSA will not relent until South Africa knows if any of the 32 000 people on the NRSO live in their street, teach their children, or work in their organisation.
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