Great news for the children of South Africa – yesterday, the ANC did another wonderful thing and voted in the new Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. This means that “consensual sexual acts between children older than 12 is not a crime provided that the age difference between the partners is less than two years”.
It has been an agonising few months since the bill was reviewed in November of last year, but thank goodness a decision has been made.
Although only voted in yesterday, it has already been suggested that the portfolio committee reviews some aspects, including the “age of consent and the circumstances in which an adolescent should be deemed to be incapable in law of consenting to a sexual act”.
An introduction to the new bill makes you wonder why the bill has been passed in the first place. Parts of it read:
…discouraging adolescents from prematurely engaging in consensual sexual conduct, which may harm their development, and from engaging in sexual conduct in a manner that increases the likelihood of the risks associated with sexual conduct…
Please note that both the the DA and African Christian Democratic Party abstained from voting for this ridiculousness.
[Source: TimesLive]
