The National Sex Offenders Registry: Offenders’ Right to Privacy v The Safety of Potential Victims

Author: Livhuwani Malelelo
LLB candidate, University of Johannesburg

The National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) is a list of convicted sexual offenders and although South Africa has an alarming rate of gender-based violence, this list only contains the names of offenders of sexual crimes against children and mentally disabled persons, meaning that the main purpose of this registry is to protect children and mentally disabled persons from these types of offenders. This list is not open to the public but is only open to institutions such as preschools, schools, hospitals etc so they can check if an employee or potential employee is a convicted sex offender. This is so as to protect the offenders right to privacy. Unfortunately, the NRSO seemingly prioritises the right to privacy of the offenders instead of protecting potential victims of said offender. 

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