South Africa
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National...
- News items in the archive
- 202
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
South Africa is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 202 news items on South Africa, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- NOVEMBER 25, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of men took to the streets in the southern...
Thousands of men took to the streets in the southern city of Cape Town to protest against the continuing violence against women and children in South Africa
- NOVEMBER 25, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The New National Party (NNP) called for the death penalty...
The New National Party (NNP) called for the death penalty for baby rapists
- NOVEMBER 23, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of people protested outside a South African...
Hundreds of people protested outside a South African court, demanding death sentences for six men charged with raping a nine-month old baby, police said
- NOVEMBER 22, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa Deputy President Jacob Zuma called for...
South Africa Deputy President Jacob Zuma called for a rethink on the way serious crime was being dealt with, saying the country's laws appeared to be no deterrent
- NOVEMBER 14, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South African legislators blamed the apparent increase...
South African legislators blamed the apparent increase in child rape and sex abuse on a belief perpetuated by some traditional healers that having sex with a virgin cures AIDS
- NOVEMBER 13, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
November 13-15, 2001: hundreds of demonstrators protested...
November 13-15, 2001: hundreds of demonstrators protested outside a South African court, demanding the death penalty for six men accused of raping a nine-month-old girl
- NOVEMBER 5, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa is in shock over a surge in the rape of...
South Africa is in shock over a surge in the rape of children and even babies, fuelled by a myth that sex with a virgin will protect a man against AIDS, activists said
- OCTOBER 29, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Two Botswana nationals detained in connection with...
Two Botswana nationals detained in connection with murder and rape in their country and who handed themselves over to South African police after escaping from custody in Lobatse could be extradited, officials said
- OCTOBER 18, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a Tanzanian, was sentenced...
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a Tanzanian, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for having a direct role in the 1998 bombing of the U
- OCTOBER 17, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Deputy President Jacob Zuma was questioned in the National...
Deputy President Jacob Zuma was questioned in the National Assembly whether the government would extradite alleged terrorists to face trial in countries with the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
None of the 40000 leads followed up by United States...
None of the 40000 leads followed up by United States investigators into the September 11 terror attacks led to South Africa, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
More than 180 delegates from 95 countries will convene...
More than 180 delegates from 95 countries will convene in Johannesburg on September 16 night for Prison Fellowship International's (PFI) Council Meeting
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Addressing the UN World Conference Against Racism,...
Addressing the UN World Conference Against Racism, non-governmental organizations called for urgent action by member states to combat discrimination
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called on...
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called on the United States to follow the example of the African National Congress in South Africa, in getting the death penalty abolished
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The Freedom Front (FF) called for the reinstallation...
The Freedom Front (FF) called for the reinstallation of the death penalty, saying the killings of white farmers in SA are politically motivated and often triggered by irresponsible comments by politicians
- AUGUST 1, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Four Zimbabwean men are to be extradited to Botswana...
Four Zimbabwean men are to be extradited to Botswana to face a murder charge, Northern Province police said
- JULY 27, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The High Court in Botswana rejected an appeal by Lehlohonolo...
The High Court in Botswana rejected an appeal by Lehlohonolo Bernard Kobedi, a South African man who had been sentenced to death for murdering a police officer in a shootout
- JULY 10, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
A Federal jury in New York sentenced Tanzanian Khalfan...
A Federal jury in New York sentenced Tanzanian Khalfan Khamis Mohamed to life without parole for the August 1998 bombing of the U
- JULY 2, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The African Christian Democratic Party voted against...
The African Christian Democratic Party voted against the proposed ratification of the Optional Second Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- JUNE 6, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The Swaziland Court of Appeal ordered a retrial in...
The Swaziland Court of Appeal ordered a retrial in the case of Bongani Mkhwanazi, a South African sentenced to death for murder
- MAY 28, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The Constitutional Court on the case of Khalfan Mohamed,...
The Constitutional Court on the case of Khalfan Mohamed, an alleged embassy bomber, ruled that South African government should have sought protection from the death penalty for alleged embassy bomber Mohamed before handing him to the FBI for trial in Amer
- APRIL 25, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of...
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001
- APRIL 21, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Sebastian Bridges, a South African citizen, 37, was...
Sebastian Bridges, a South African citizen, 37, was executed by lethal injection in Nevada (USA)
- APRIL 6, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Following Marietta Bosch, the South african woman,...
Following Marietta Bosch, the South african woman, executed in Botswana on March 31 for murder, the South Africa's National Association of Democratic Lawyers said Botswanan President Festus Mogae should commute the sentences of all prisoners in his countr
- APRIL 2, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The South African Foreign Ministry declared that it...
The South African Foreign Ministry declared that it was informed of Marietta Bosch's execution only two days after the event
- APRIL 2, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Lawyers for South African Mariette Sonjaleen Bosch,...
Lawyers for South African Mariette Sonjaleen Bosch, 50, said the execution was carried out with indecent haste and with callous disregard for Bosch's life and her constitutional rights
- MARCH 29, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Feelings ran high in the North West town of Marikana...
Feelings ran high in the North West town of Marikana where the community met Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete and Agri SA president Japie Grobler after two farm murders in the area on March 27
- MARCH 27, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
According to lawyers acting for President Thabo Mbeki,...
According to lawyers acting for President Thabo Mbeki, South African courts have no power to order the government to request that an alleged Muslim bomber on trial in the United States not be given a death sentence
- MARCH 27, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
A second South African is facing murder charges in...
A second South African is facing murder charges in Botswana and possibly the gallows if convicted
- MARCH 5, 2001South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
A large group of women, members of the Phoenix community...
A large group of women, members of the Phoenix community converged on the Verulam Regional Court, north of Durban and staged a placard protest in front of the court entrance morning while three suspects appeared in connection with March 1 gang rape of a s