DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE & CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Government in Kimberley

The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for dignity and privacy. Expungement of a criminal record is a process by which a criminal record of a convicted offender is expunged from the criminal record database of the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service. This allows a person to carry on with life without a criminal record being an obstruction to employment opportunities. When a period of 10 years has passed after the date of the conviction for that offence. When the person has not been convicted and sentenced to a period of imprisonment without the option of a fine during those 10 years. When the sentence was postponed or the person was cautioned and discharged. When the sentence was imprisonment with the option to pay a fine (not more than R20 000) instead of serving the period of imprisonment. When a person was sentenced to direct imprisonment (the imprisonment was not suspended and there was not the option of a fine) during the relevant 10 year period. The head of the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service will, within 21 working days after his or her receipt of the certificate of Expungement, confirm to the person in writing that the conviction and sentence in question has/have been expunged.