Of the more than 5,000 cases of child abuse reported to the Teddy Bear Foundation in the past five years, just 4% — about one in 25 — have resulted in a conviction.
The grim statistic underscores a growing concern over the way South Africa’s strained justice system is failing the most vulnerable members of society.
Delays and frequent postponements — many of them linked to staff shortages, load-shedding and other technical issues — plague the courts. Stuck in limbo, victims say they have given up their quest for justice because the system is more traumatising than the original abuse.
New research by the Teddy Bear Foundation, an NGO operating for almost 40 years, reveals that of the 5,385 cases handled by its court preparation programme between 2019 and 2024, 4,547 — a staggering 84% — are still pending, while 514 cases have been withdrawn. Of the 838 cases finalised, just 230 resulted in a conviction. Some 46% of cases reported involve sexual abuse, the research found.
Somewhere along the line, we stopped crying, we’ve run out of tears. This process has drained me of everything
— Mother of child victim
“There’s no end in sight,” a woman whose daughter was sexually abused by a relative told the Sunday Times this week. “Somewhere along the line, we stopped crying, we’ve run out of tears. This process has drained me of everything. I’m drained of energy, pain, and even the will to fight for justice.
“Every time we go to court, it feels like we’re starting from scratch. She [my daughter] just can’t bear it any more. It’s the emotional toll on her. It’s like she’s reliving the abuse every time.”
Her daughter’s case has dragged on for six years and the trial has been delayed “so many times I’ve lost count”. Load-shedding, water outages and audiovisual technical difficulties are among the reasons for the postponements.
“Just when we think there’s a break in the case and it’s moving forward, there will be a postponement. With every court appearance she relives everything.”
The systemic failures in criminal prosecution also affect the many thousands of other children whose cases have not been handled by the Teddy Bear Foundation, which operates throughout the country.
The foundation’s clinical director, Shaheda Omar, said other problems in the justice system included a lack of specialised courts for sexual offences and a backlog of crime kits at forensic labs for processing DNA evidence.
This week, the National Forensic Oversight and Ethics Board (DNA Board) — a statutory body that provides oversight over forensic DNA processes in criminal investigations — said there was a backlog of 141,190 cases, or 36.81% of all cases.
It acknowledged that the delays could jeopardise the effectiveness of the national forensic DNA database, the prompt and swift detection of offenders and “the entire criminal justice value chain”.
Omar said load-shedding had a knock-on effect as cases were often postponed because CCTV cameras — used during testimony given by child victims — took a while to be restored to functioning.
“There’s also the issue of not having enough intermediaries. The water crisis is another reason that cases are postponed. This has been an ongoing challenge in the Soweto courts,” Omar said.
When the Sunday Times attended a court preparation workshop with the parents of children who had been abused, almost everyone in the session mentioned investigating officers who are overwhelmed, and delays in communication that left them in the dark.
“The criminal justice system is meant to provide justice for all, but many victims are being failed,” Omar said. “The report only looks at the cases we followed up on; what about the thousands of cases that haven’t come through the Teddy Bear Foundation?”
Child rights activist Joan van Niekerk said Gauteng was relatively well-endowed with “a multiplicity of services for child victims”.
But, she added: “What happens to children in other provinces where there aren’t these specialised services? This report begs the question: what happens to other cases of child abuse?
“I hear these stories all the time. How can it take four years to finalise a case where the victim and the offender are known? The chaos that this causes in a child’s life is debilitating. Children are often more harmed by the process than the abuse,” Van Niekerk said.
The acting chief prosecutor at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court, advocate Agnes Bezuidenhout, told the Sunday Times that language barriers further complicated matters, with police statements sometimes mistranslated, leading to inconsistencies that weakened prosecutions.
“There are outside factors that we will not be able to do anything about. But what we can do is screen our dockets thoroughly. With screening and consultation we can take cases to court where you see that there is a chance for conviction,” Bezuidenhout said.
Both Omar and Bezuidenhout cite the absence of specialised sexual offences courts in Johannesburg, which means such cases are lumped in with general criminal matters.
With limited courtrooms equipped for child testimony and a shortage of trained intermediaries, delays are inevitable. Some cases drag on for years, forcing children to relive their trauma long after the initial incident.
Bezuidenhout has put together a dedicated unit of senior prosecutors with experience in handling sexual offences, which she said had made a difference.
Ricki Cooper, director of Childline Western Cape, praised Bezuidenhout’s initiative, because low conviction rates eroded trust in the system and discouraged victims from reporting abuse.
She said all role-players in child abuse cases should receive better training and support, while collaboration and resources should be boosted.
Cooper said dedicated child-friendly courts could speed up the processing of cases and reduce trauma for children. Therapeutic support was also crucial for helping children build resilience and navigate the process, ensuring cases were not lost or withdrawn due to trauma or lack of evidence.
Approached for comment, justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi told the Sunday Times key challenges included “infrastructure constraints” related to facilities for children, which hindered their access to justice; legislative gaps; and limitations in human and financial resources.
“These findings reaffirm the urgent need to strengthen the system to ensure that child abuse cases are handled with the sensitivity, efficiency, and urgency they deserve,” Kubayi said.
“The country needs more courts, especially in remote areas, to reduce the need for people to travel long distances. As part of this commitment, I am dedicated to ensuring that every new facility built will incorporate child-friendly features.”
The minister urged the private sector to help to provide the facilities needed in cases involving child victims, particularly in remote areas.
Kubayi said she was working with stakeholders to improve case management, prevent unnecessary delays and boost conviction rates.
“A key focus is preventing unnecessary delays and case withdrawals, which often result from inefficiencies and [lead to] a loss of public trust in the system. Within available resources, I am also prioritising ethics training for all those involved in the administration of justice.”
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