What about the victims

South Africa is experiencing rampant criminality with the rates of serious violent crime stabilising on an unacceptably high plateau (the world's highest rape rate - 120 per 100 000 and a murder rate of 56 per 100 000 - more than ten times that of the USA). Against this background I believe that the spotlight should begin to focus on the victims of crime and their rights rather than those of the perpetrator. Ironically, while our Constitution contains two-and-a-half pages on the rights of suspects and the accused, it is silent on the rights of victims of crime.