Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabhiza has revealed that the government is reviewing a proposed 60-year jail term for rapists, after some cabinet ministers said the sentence was too severe. The authorities had proposed a mandatory 60-year minimum sentence for people who rape minors and the disabled.
Said Mabhiza:
We worked on a draft Bill that was taken to Cabinet for approval. I understand that some Cabinet members expressed reservations over the issue of the severity of the 60-year mandatory imprisonment for raping a minor.
Some ministers felt that the proposed sentence was too harsh and there was a need for it to be reviewed. The Bill was then sent back to the Attorney-General so that the issue can be revised.
It was agreed that the sentence should be deterrent, but, at the same time, should not be too harsh to the extent of having a mandatory 60-year jail term. The draft is back with the AG now, and we hope it will be accepted when it is eventually taken back to Cabinet
More: Sunday News
Too harsh to who?? There should not be anything called harsh when dealing with paedophiles. In our African culture such acts are actually an abomination so no mercy and certainly no need to review such a sentence. They actually ought to be killed
The only people who have anything to worry about are rapists SO just why are these cabinet ministers concerned?????