AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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Rape, including spousal rape, was illegal. There was an extremely high incidence
of rape for reasons that included a poor general security climate and societal attitudes
condoning sexual violence against women. In the large majority of rape cases,
the perpetrator went unpunished.
The SAPS reported that between January and March 2001, there were 144.2
rapes reported per day or 29.5 rapes per 100,000 persons; however, according to a
1998 SAPS survey cited in the Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) report, only half
of all respondents who were raped reported the incident to the police. Of the cases
reported, 47.6 percent were referred to court after an investigation. The Rape Crisis
Organization of South Africa reported that only 8.9 percent of reported rapes resulted
in a conviction (see Section 1.e.).
Rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of black female farm workers by
farm owners, managers, and by other farm workers was common.
The Office on the Status of the Women, located in the Presidency, reported in the
2000 National Policy Framework for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
that ‘‘there are few support structures for victims of rape. At police stations, rape
victims face a lack of facilities coupled with the unsympathetic treatment women
frequently receive from both the police and the justice system.’’ Although judges in
rape cases generally followed statutory sentencing guidelines, judges occasionally
were criticized by women’s advocacy groups for using questionable criteria, such as
the victim’s behavior or relationship to the rapist, as a basis for imposing lighter
sentences.
The Government established 22 sexual offense courts throughout the country, designated
waiting rooms for victims, established counseling, installed more than 2,000
intermediary facilities at courts, and trained judicial officers.
The issue of rape was covered widely in the media during the year. There were
a number of demonstrations against rape, such as the October massive protest
against child abuse and child rape, which culminated with the presentation of a petition
to Minister of Home Affairs Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
Unlike in the previous report, there were no reports that female immigrants and
asylum seekers were abused sexually during detention.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced in some areas of the Eastern Cape
and KwaZulu-Natal; however, it was not considered to be widespread and was confined
to isolated cases. The law specifically prohibits FGM as unfair discrimination.
Prostitution was illegal, but it was widespread and practiced rather openly. In August
2001, the Pretoria High Court ruled that sections that prohibited prostitution
in the Sexual Offences Act were unconstitutional. There were incidents of harassment
by policemen demanding sexual favors of prostitutes under threat of penalizing
them for lewd conduct or public loitering. There was no law that specifically
prohibited sex tourism, although it was covered under the general prohibition
against prostitution. The Government was not involved in sex tourism.
There were reports that women were trafficked into the country for prostitution
(see Section 6.f.).
Although no official statistics were available, there was anecdotal evidence that
sexual harassment was a widespread problem. An attorney from the Women’s Legal
Center, an NGO, estimated in July 2001 that 76 percent of women had experienced
some form of sexual harassment; 40 percent of these women had left their jobs or
changed jobs as a result of the harassment. Perpetrators of sexual harassment can
be prosecuted under a number of laws; however, there were few successful prosecutions.
Discrimination against women remained a serious problem despite equal rights
under family law and property law with regard to inheritance, divorce, and custody
of children, and equal legal rights under the judicial system.
Polygyny continued to be practiced by several ethnic groups. Exacting a bride
price (‘‘lobola’’) also was a traditional practice of some ethnic groups. The Recognition
of Customary Marriages Act of 2000 recognizes customary marriages, both
monogamous and polygynous; however, it did not address religious marriages, which
were not recognized by the law.
Discrimination against women in the workplace was prohibited under the law,
which included both antidiscrimination and affirmative action provisions; however,
in practice women experienced economic discrimination in areas such as wages, extension
of credit, and access to land. For example, township housing transfer
schemes favored existing titleholders who tended to be men, and women in rural
areas found it hard to obtain security of tenure, which was a precondition for accessing
housing subsidies. Women, especially black women, typically had lower incomes
and less job security than men. Most women were engaged in poorly paid domestic
labor and micro-enterprises, which did not provide job security or benefits. Domestic
workers usually did not have contracts with their employers and had little recourse
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