The opposition Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) said it...

The opposition Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) said it wanted the death penalty imposed against child rapists.
The party blamed child rape on lenient sentences that were imposed by the criminal justice system.
PAC general secretary Thami ka Plaatjie said the scourge of child rape had become a national crisis and was threatening to rival the AIDS epidemic as the country's biggest problem.
"Its emergence can be attributed to a number of factors, including unemployment, mental sickness and general disillusionment. But all these reasons are no justification for such acts of savagery," he said.
He said the leniency of the justice system, which did not impose harsh sentences such as the death sentence or life imprisonment, was encouraging acts of savagery among citizens.