Expungement of a criminal record is a process by which the criminal record of a convicted offender is removed from the database of the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service.
To get your criminal record expunged, you must get a Police Clearance Certificate from the Criminal Record Centre of the SAPS. The certificate needs to be obtained 10 years after the relevant conviction and sentence – you cannot use an old clearance certificate. But before you go through that process, you should check if you qualify for expungement of your criminal record at all. Scorpion Legal Protection explains below.
You can apply to have your criminal record expunged if:
- 10 years have passed since the date of your initial conviction.
- A certified copy of your ID/passport. You will need to present your ID/passport at the police station as proof of identity.
- You received a sentence of periodical imprisonment or correctional supervision – any sentence of imprisonment which was suspended wholly.
- You have not been convicted and sentenced to a period of imprisonment without the option of a fine during those 10 years, or of any other crime during the 10 years since your initial conviction.
- You received a sentence discharging you with caution or reprimand or a sentence of corporal punishment before corporal punishment was declared to be unconstitutional as a sentencing option.
- You were sentenced to pay a fine that does not exceed R20 000.
You will not qualify for expungement if:
- Less than 10 years have passed since your conviction.
- You were convicted of a sexual offence against a child or disabled person. This means your name is on the National Register for Sex Offenders or the National Child Protection Register.
Although you can use agencies or representatives to do the application on your behalf, the Department of Justice’s process to expunge a criminal record process is free. They have also emphasised that matters are dealt with in order of receipt, and no preference is given to agencies or representatives. Beware of scammers who claim they can get the application done for you suspiciously quickly or lie about large fees that they say the Department of Justice requires.
You may also be interested in:
Why citizenship can be rejected
How bail applications work
Is suspension for theft fair?
If you have a query, follow Scorpion Legal Protection on Facebook and ask your question during our next Live Q&A (every first Thursday of the month from 11:30- 13:30).
*This is only basic legal advice and cannot be relied on solely. The information is correct at the time of being sent to publishing.