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The Police ministry recently stated that over 60% of statutory rape cases were either withdrawn or settled through mediation.
Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: iStock
Roughly 50 statutory rape cases per month have been registered with the police since last April.
However, most cases are settled out of court or withdrawn – most of which are done before going to court.
The Ministry of Police revealed the figures in a written response to a parliamentary question submitted in late February.
The question came months after at least 30 underage girls gave birth in South African hospitals on Christmas Day.
The ministry stated that 536 cases of statutory rape were registered between 1 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.
Of those, 83 cases resulted in a successful prosecution, 117 were still under investigation, and only one accused was found not guilty.
However, 335 cases were not prosecuted, as 98 had been settled through mediation or other legal negotiations, and 237 were withdrawn.
The ministry stressed that the law placed an obligation on any person who had knowledge of a sexual offence having been committed against a child to report the incident.
The age of consent in SA is 16 with the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 adding two provisions.
The amendment meant that sexual acts between children aged 12 and 15 would be exempt from prosecution, as would incidents where the older party was 16 or 17 but not more than two years older than the younger party.
Associate at BDK Attorneys, Abrie van der Merwe, said the statutory rape was strictly defined by the act and the amendment.
As victims were still minors, Van der Merwe said many cases were driven by parents seeking justice for their children.
However, other than cases where there was a large gap in age between offender and victim or where very young girls were impregnated, the intervening years could be a cause of many cases being withdrawn.
“Investigations take so long, and complainants might not always want to revisit the scenario, or they have moved on with their lives,” Van der Merwe told The Citizen.
“Taking the matter through the courts can be a very arduous, time-consuming and emotional process,” he added, explaining that victims can become adults during protracted court proceedings.
Van de Merwe stressed that no scenario was alike and that there was a “litany of reasons” why charges would be withdrawn. However, the state was cautious when pursuing cases where complainants were apprehensive about securing a criminal conviction.
Mediation would then be the preferable course of action, with Van der Merwe saying this outcome “could literally be anything,” ranging from reimbursement of medical expenses to compliance with protection orders.
In educating children, police state they regularly conduct sexual awareness and school safety programmes in conjunction with the Department of Basic Education
“[This]is considered to be a priority crime and a key facet of gender-based violence and femicide,” the police ministry stated.
“The awareness-raising campaigns inform communities on what constitutes statutory rape, the obligations for adults, including parents, health practitioners and educators to report crime and offences,” the ministry concluded.
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