- Government
Gazette 15161
-
STATE
PRESIDENT'S
OFFICE No.
1853.
-
6
October
1993
-
- It
is hereby
notified that
the
Acting
State
President
has
assented
to the
following
Act which
is hereby
published
for general
information:-
-
No.
133 of
1993: Prevention
of
Family
Violence
Act, 1993
-
- ACT
-
- To
provide
for the
granting
of interdicts
with
regard
to
family
violence;
for an
obligation
to report
cases
of suspected
ill-treatment
of children;
that
a husband
can
be
convicted
of the
rape
of his
wife;
and for
matters
connected
therewith.
-
- (English
text
signed
by the
Acting State
President.)
(Assented
to 24
September
1993.)
-
- Be
IT ENACTED
by the
State
President
and the
Parliament
of the
Republic
of South
Africa, as
follows:-
-
- Definitions
-
- 1.
(1) In
this
Act, unless
the context
indicates
otherwise-
-
- (i)
"magistrate"
includes
a family
magistrate
appointed
under
section
9(1)(a)(v)
of the
Lower
Courts Act,
1944 (Act
No. 32
of 1944);
(ii)
-
(ii)
"matrimonial
home"
means
the house,
flat, room
or other
structure
in which
the
parties
to a
marriage
ordinarily
live or
lived
together;
(i)
(iii)
"prescribed"
means
prescribed
by or
under this
Act.
(iii)
(2) Any
reference
in this
Act
to the
parties
to a
marriage
shall
be -
construed
as
including
a man
and a
woman
who
are or
were
married
to
each
-
other
according
to any
law or
custom
and also
a man
and a
woman
who ordinarily
live or
lived
together
as
husband
and wife,
although
not married
to each
other.
-
- Interdict
with regard
to family
violence
-
- 2.
(1) A
judge or
magistrate
in chambers
may,
on application
in the
prescribed
manner
by a
party
to a
marriage
(hereinafter
called
the applicant)
or by
any
other person
who
has
a material
interest
in the
matter
on behalf
of the
applicant,
grant an
interdict
against
the
other
party to
-
the
marriage
(hereinafter
called
the
respondent)
enjoining
the
respondent-
-
- (a)
not to
assault
or threaten
the
applicant
or a
child
living
with the
parties
or with
either
of them;
-
- (b)
not to
enter the
matrimonial
home
or other
place where
the applicant
is resident,
or a
specified part
of such
home
or place
or a
specified area
in which
such home
or place
is situated;
-
- (c)
not to
prevent
the
applicant
or a
child who
ordinarily lives
in the
matrimonial
home
from
entering
and remaining
in the
matrimonial
home
or a
specified
part
of the
matrimonial
home;
or
-
- (d)
not to
commit
any other
act specified
in the
interdict.
-
- (2)
In granting
an interdict
contemplated
in subsection
(1) the
judge or
magistrate,
as the
case
may
be, shall
make
an order-
-
- (a)
authorizing
the issue
of a
warrant
for the
arrest of
the respondent;
-
- (b)
suspending the
execution
of such
warrant
subject to
such
conditions
regarding
compliance
with the
interdict
as he
may
deem fit;
and
-
- (c)
advising the
respondent
that
he may,
after 24
hours'
notice to
the
applicant
and the
court
concerned,
apply for
the amendment
or setting
aside
of the
interdict
contemplated
in subsection
(1).
-
- (3)
The interdict
contemplated
in subsection
(1)
and the
order contemplated
in subsection
(2)
shall have
no force
and effect
until served
on the
respondent
in the
prescribed
manner.
-
- Execution
of
warrant
of arrest
-
- 3.
(1)
Subject
to the
provisions of
section 2(3)
a warrant
of arrest
-
issued
and
suspended
in terms
of section
2(2) may
be executed
by a
peace
officer as
defined
in section
1 of
the Criminal
Procedure Act,
1977 (Act
No. 51
of 1977),
upon receipt
of an
affidavit
in which
it is
stated that
-
the
respondent
has breached
any of
the
conditions
contained
in the
order
contemplated
in section
2(2).
-
- (2)
A respondent
arrested in
terms
of subsection
(1)-
-
- (a)
shall
not be
released
unless
a judge
or magistrate
orders his
release;
and
-
- (b)
shall as
soon as
possible but
not
later
than
24
hours
after
his
arrest
be brought
before a
judge or
magistrate
by a
peace
officer
contemplated
in subsection
(1).
-
- (3)
Subject
to the
provisions
of this
section,
all the
provisions of
-
the
Criminal
Procedure Act,
1977 (Act
No. 51
of 1977),
relating
to the
form and
manner
of execution
of warrants
of
arrest,
the
arrest, detention,
searching
and
other treatment
necessary
for the
control
of persons
named
in warrants
of
arrest,
shall
mutatis
mutandis
apply in
respect
of warrants
of arrest
issued
under
section
2(2).
-
- (4)
The judge
or magistrate
before
whom
a respondent
is brought
in terms
of subsection
(2) shall
enquire
into the
respondent's
alleged breach
of the
conditions of
the order
made
in terms
of section
2(2) and
may
at the
conclusion
of such
enquiry-
-
- (a)
order the
release
of the
respondent
from
custody;
or
-
- (b)
convict
the
respondent
of the
offence
contemplated
in section
6.
-
- (5)
The provisions
of the
Criminal
Procedure Act,
1977 (Act
No. 51
of
-
1977),
relating
to the
procedure which
shall
be followed
in respect
of an
enquiry referred
to in
section
170 of
that Act,
shall apply
mutatis
mutandis
in respect
of an
enquiry under
subsection
(4).
-
- Obligation
to report
ill-treatment
of children
-
- 4.
Any
person who
examines,
treats,
attends
to,
advises,
instructs
or cares
for any
child
in
circumstances
which
ought to
give
rise to
the
reasonable
suspicion
that
such
child
has been
ill-treated,
or suffers
from any
injury the
probable
cause of
which
was
deliberate,
shall
immediately
report such
circumstances-
-
- (a)
to a
police official;
or
-
- (b)
to a
commissioner
of child
welfare
or a
social
worker
referred
to in
section 1
of the
Child
Care
Act,
1983 (Act
No. 74
of
1983).
-
- Rape
of wife
by her
husband
-
- 5.
Notwithstanding
anything
to the
contrary
contained
in any
law or
in the
common
law, a
husband may
be
convicted
of the
rape
of his
wife.
-
- Offences
and
penalties
-
- 6.
A person
who-
-
- (a)
contravenes
an interdict
or other
order granted
by a
judge
or magistrate
under
section 2(1)
or (2);
or
-
- (b)
fails
to
comply
with the
provisions
of section
4, shall
be
guilty of
an
offence and
liable on
conviction
in the
case of
an offence
referred
to in
paragraph
(a)
to a
fine or
imprisonment
for a
period
-
not
exceeding
12 months
or to
both
such fine
and such
imprisonment
-
and
in the
case
of an
offence
referred
to in
paragraph
(b) to
a fine
-
or
imprisonment
for a
period
not exceeding
three months
or to
both
such fine
and such
imprisonment.
-
- Regulations
-
- 7.
The Minister
of Justice
may
make
regulations-
-
- (a)
prescribing
the
manner
in which
an application
contemplated
in section
2 is
to be
made;
-
- (b)
prescribing
the manner
in
which
the interdict
and
order shall
be served
on the
respondent
in
terms
of section
2(3); and
-
(c)
in general,
as to
any
matter
which
he may
consider
necessary
or expedient
to
prescribe
or regulate
in order
to achieve
the
objects
of this
Act.
-
- Repeal
of
section
1 of
Act
39 of
1989
-
- 8.
Section
1 of
the Criminal
Law and
the Criminal
Procedure Act
-
Amendment
Act, 1989
(Act
No. 39
of 1989),
is
hereby
repealed.
Short
title
and commencement
-
9.
This Act
shall
be
called
the
Prevention
of Family
Violence
Act,
-
1993,
and
shall
come
into
operation
on a
date
fixed
by the
State
President
by proclamation
in the
Gazette.
|
