Anti-GBV activist says juvenile perps afforded too much protection by Child Justice Act

Gender-based violence activist, Lucinda Evans, said that juvenile perpetrators were being afforded too much protection by the Child Justice Act.

Evans has called on government to relook at the act following the Deveney Nel murder case.

Nel was 16 years old when she was stabbed to death at Overberg High School in Caledon last year.

The 18-year-old charged with Nel's murder was previously accused of the violent rape of an 11-year-old girl, but the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) chose not to prosecute him, saying he lacked "criminal capacity".

"How is it possible that after the first offence, that this child slipped through the fingers of the institutions that had to ensure that after the court made a decision that this child should have, would have gotten the help."