Govt to finally record sex offenders, 8 years later

Government is finally moving to appoint a Registrar for the National Register for Sex Offenders, eight years after the SODV Act came into effect.

The register is required by Part IX, Sections 56-59 of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act No. 15 of 2018, which was assented in July 2018 and commenced in August 2018.

The Act was hailed at the time as a landmark law for Eswatini to protect women and children.

The law clearly stipulated the timelines as it ordered that within three months after commencement, the commissioner general of correctional services, the national commissioner of police and the director of health services must forward all records of persons convicted of sexual offences to the Registrar.

It reads, “The government will keep record of sexual offenders called a National Register for Sex Offenders. The register is for the protection of victims of sexual offences, especially children and persons with disabilities.”

The SODV Regulations of 2020 then formalised the register under regulation 4 and created the office of the registrar under regulation 5, stating the registrar must be an admitted attorney with at least 10 years experience.

The regulation states that, “There is established a register for sex offenders which shall contain particulars of persons convicted whether before or after commencement.”

However, since then, the post has remained vacant. This means the country has been without a central, confidential database to vet persons working with vulnerable groups, despite increasing reports of sexual offences.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has advertised the post of registrar for sex offenders, tenable at the deputy prime minister’s office.

According to the advertisement, the duties of the registrar include coordinating with the Judiciary, Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) and the ministry of health to ensure timely forwarding of offender particulars, receiving and recording particulars of persons convicted of sexual offences, ensuring accuracy and confidentiality of offender data, implementing electronic security measures and ensuring all activities align with the SODV Act 2018.

The person will also be responsible for developing rules for forwarding, updating and removing offender data, building relationships with civil society, representing the register in inter-ministerial forums, and advising the minister and government on policy and legal matters relating to sex offender registration.

According to the Act, anyone found guilty by a court of a sexual offence, whether the offence was committed before or after the SODV Act, or whether it was committed inside or outside the country.

It also includes persons who were found to have committed the act but were declared mentally unfit under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Senior Superintendent Phindile Zwane said they have all along been collecting and compiling all related statistics.

“We keep records of everything that we do. So when there is an instruction on where we should submit the records, we will do so without a problem because the records are readily available,” she said. Effort to get comment from the HMCS commissioner general and the director of health services proved futile at the time of compiling this report.

…Registrar job pays over E51 000 per month

The registrar for sex offenders, whose appointment has been delayed for eight years, will be one of the highest paid officials in the deputy prime minister’s office.

According to the vacancy advert by the Civil Service Commission, the basic salary is on Grade E4, which is E616 920 rising to E667 774 per annum.

This translates to about E51 410 per month at entry level, excluding allowances.

Qualifications for the lucrative post are stringent. The candidate must have O’Level, a bachelor of laws (LLB) or criminal justice degree plus a master’s degree in law or a related discipline. He or she must be an admitted attorney with 10 years experience in the legal profession, with at least four years at supervisory or management level, computer literate and of upright character. The registrar will head the register established under Regulation 4 of the SODV Regulations 2020, which must be kept in both electronic and physical formats approved by the minister, with access restricted to only the registrar and appointed officials.

The post closes on November 2. The commission says foreign qualifications for shortlisted candidates must be verified by the Eswatini Qualifications Authority.