Hon Chairperson, I am in agreement with the hon member that indeed having a criminal record has the effect that he has alluded to. As the hon member is aware, in general, the expungement of criminal records is available to persons who have not been sentenced to prison without the option of a fine, and only after a period of 10 years has lapsed since the date of the conviction.
I have been informed by the department that the expungement process can unfortunately take a long time due to the volume of applications for expungement and the verification process of criminal records, in terms of which a person must first apply for a clearance certificate from the Criminal Record Centre at any police station before the application can be submitted to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for consideration.
However, I need to indicate that on a daily basis, I receive requests also in relation to the applications for presidential pardons, which is another avenue that is used to actually expunge criminal records.
We do concede that indeed a criminal record has a negative effect on somebody when it comes to being able to move on with their lives, and as a result, especially with minor crimes that do not involve violence or the violation of women, we tend to be very amenable to recommending the expungement of such criminal records so that previous offenders are able to develop further in their lives. Thank you.