A REVIEW OF VICTIM POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA

This monograph reviews victim policy in South Africa, specifically analyzing the Service Charter for Victims of Crime, the Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP), and the Uniform Protocol on Victim Management (UPVM). It evaluates how these policies address the material, practical, and emotional needs of crime victims and identifies significant gaps in implementation, funding, and inter-departmental coordination.

• South Africa experiences high levels of criminal victimisation, with a 2003 survey indicating 22.9% of the population were victims of crime between September 2002 and August 2003. Youth are particularly vulnerable; a 2005 study found 41.5% of children and youth aged 12 to 22 were victims of crime and violence.
• The Service Charter for Victims of Crime in South Africa is criticized for its limited scope, as it only confers rights on victims who engage with the criminal justice system, ignoring those who do not report crimes or seek support through health and welfare systems.
• The legal status of South Africa's primary victim policy documents is unclear. The Victims' Charter has been approved by the cabinet but not by Parliament, and both the VEP and the UPVM remain in draft form.
• There is a lack of coherence and a common theoretical rationale across the three main policy documents. They utilize different drivers—such as crime prevention, human rights, and restorative justice—which leads to overlapping and confusing service standards.
• The Victims' Charter is described as reactive and places an unfair burden on victims to request services, rather than the state proactively offering them. Its provisions for protection are deemed unrealistic, relying heavily on a Witness Protection Unit with limited resources.
• The Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP) is the most comprehensive policy effort due to its multidisciplinary approach and focus on the roles of different government departments, though it suffers from patchy implementation and a lack of official policy status.
• The Uniform Protocol on Victim Management (UPVM) specifically targets victims of sexual offences and domestic violence, aiming to standardize services across both government and civil society providers to prevent evidence contamination in court.
• Service delivery is heavily dependent on an unequal partnership with civil society organisations and volunteers. These organisations face precarious funding, often relying on donors whose priorities may not align with local needs.
• Current service standards are often weak because they are expressed as activities rather than measurable outcomes, making accountability difficult.
• Restorative justice is mentioned in policy but remains overwhelmingly offender-focused in practice, with limited application for victims outside of the child justice system.

APA

FRANK, C. (2007). A REVIEW OF VICTIM POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/M137FULL.PDF

Chicago

FRANK, CHERYL. A REVIEW OF VICTIM POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA. Institute for Security Studies, 2007. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/M137FULL.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=FRANK |first1=CHERYL |title=A REVIEW OF VICTIM POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=July 2007 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/M137FULL.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{frank2007review, author = {FRANK, CHERYL}, title = {{A REVIEW OF VICTIM POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2007}, month = jul, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/M137FULL.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }