There is some light at the end of the tunnel in the case against a Malmesbury man who is accused of molesting three children as he has been declared fit to stand trial after nearly a year of postponements. While Action Society welcomes the positive trajectory in this case, we believe that it has been unnecessarily hindered by systemic issues and ultimately failed the victims. The next court date is on 21 May 2025.
We believe that the accused poses a danger to children and must be removed from society permanently. He was first arrested in 2021 for child molestation but was let go on a warning. In the meantime, two years later, the accused bought himself time by changing lawyers on three different occasions. He has expressed that he is unable to control his urges to harm children and suffers from mental health issues. The mental evaluation contradicts this and therefore it is safe to say he is a malicious sexual predator who should not be allowed to roam around in his community ever again.
“Offenders like these must be included on the National Register of Sexual Offenders (NRSO). South Africa is failing its children on a daily basis by not having the NRSO made available to the public,” said Head of Action Society’s Action Centre Kaylynn Palm. “Parents should be able to evaluate whether the adults their children are in contact with are safe. This includes teachers and other adults in positions of authority over children. Action Society demands that the Sexual offenders list is available to the public. Privacy laws shouldn’t protect perpetrators of sexual crimes.”
The primary issue that plagued this case was finding placement for the accused at the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital for a mental evaluation. He was put on a waiting list and almost a year had passed before he was finally placed.
“It is unacceptable that the victims have had to wait almost a year for something as simple as a mental evaluation. There seems to be a roadblock at every turn for victims seeking justice. This goes to show how deep the systemic issues in our judicial system really go. We continue to call for these problems to be addressed with utmost urgency before the public loses complete faith in our court system.
“This case has revealed glaring issues in our judicial system. Action Society will continue to fight for change until we see these problems addressed. Meanwhile we hope that this case moves swiftly along,” concluded Palm.
