A breakthrough has been made in facilitating court cases relating to international tourists involved in crimes in South Africa – enabling victims to testify virtually and not have to fly back to South Africa to ensure effective prosecution.

This was announced yesterday (Monday, May 29) by Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, during a mediabriefing following consultation with industry on implementing an effective tourism safety strategy. 

“We have heard from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) today that amendments have since been made to the Criminal Procedure Act. The Act has been amended to include Section 51 C, which incorporates a provision for witnesses to testify virtually. This section came into effect on August 5 last year,” said De Lille.

The Department of Tourism has been engaging with the NPA over the past two years to obtain guidance on ways to speed up cases involving international tourists, given their limited time in the country once a crime has been committed.

At a workshop held in August 2022, the NPA informed the Department that President Cyril Ramaphosa had agreed to the legislation on the utilisation of the use of audio and visual links to present evidence in court. 

This would pave the way for instituting Virtual Court proceedings, which would allow tourists to be part of the proceedings even if they had left the country before the conclusion of a case.

Alternatively, tourists could connect through audio-visual link at the South African missions in their countries of origin. 

This forms part of several interventions to ensure tourism safety as set out in the National Tourism Safety Strategy of 2018, which De Lille is working on with the private sector, to ensure implementation during her tenure. 

During a consultation meeting held yesterday between provincial and national government stakeholders, as well as private-sector associations – including the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, FEDHASA, Barsa, SATOVITO and SATSA – all agreed to collaborate on the plan, with clear actions and timelines set.

“In everything we do, the best way for us to succeed is to take hands and work in partnership with the private sector. Government has a role to play in our respective mandates, but the private sector is the business owners who know the sector best. We need to find solutions together, and we need to implement the solutions together,” said De Lille.