In parliament on Wednesday Justice Minister Jeff Radebe announced that 58 sex crime courts would be opened by September 2013. The courts are in response to the high sex crime rate in South Africa, as the country reports more than 65 000 rape cases annually. The minister says that “These dedicated courts are necessary. When there are these dedicated courts, the conviction rate goes up, but when we stopped them, the conviction rate went down.”

Radebe added that the government would be focusing specifically on rape and murder cases against women and children, re-iterating President Jacob Zuma’s words at the State of the Nation Address. In addition, the National Council on Gender Based Violence, an NGO that was established in 2012 would increase their campaigns against violence. Radebe also referred to the brutal rape and murder of Bredasdorp teenager Anene Booysen saying,  “We’ve seen the outcry about the rape and murder of the teenager here in the Western Cape, but this has been a perennial problem in South Africa.”