In a bizarre twist to South Africa’s ever-increasing concern with sexual conduct, legislation contemplated by the Department of Constitutional Affairs would effectively outlaw sex amongst teenagers. An 18 year-old having sex with a consenting minor age 16 would be guilty of an offence since the CRIMINAL LAW (SEXUAL OFFENCES) AMENDMENT BILL defines “child” as a person under the age of 18.
Lifting the age of consent to 18 may have its benefits, however the mother grundies in the department are loathe to admit anything else as “perversity”. Under the guise of protecting pre-teens from peadofiles, the entire regime of sexual conduct in South Africa is now being transformed. Will this mean an increase in criminal investigations at School level? Will teenage romance be banned? What about the not-so-innocent Lolita’s out there? The act would presumably also ban Vladimier Nabokov’s work of fiction.