Juvenile offenders centurion

The Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 (in force from 1 April 2010) sets up a separate criminal-justice process for children under 18 who are suspected of having committed an offence, and that process applies in Centurion just as it does nationally. A child under 12 has no criminal capacity and cannot be arrested; a child aged 12 to under 14 is presumed to lack criminal capacity (the State must prove capacity before a conviction); a child aged 14 to under 18 has full criminal capacity and may be arrested, prosecuted or diverted at the prosecutor’s discretion. Once arrested, the child must be brought before a preliminary inquiry within 48 hours at the Centurion Magistrate’s Court at Lyttelton Manor in the Tshwane Magisterial District, where a magistrate, prosecutor, probation officer, the child and parents, the arresting officer and a Legal Aid attorney consider whether the matter should be diverted away from the formal criminal process or sent to the Child Justice Court for trial.

The Legal Framework: The Child Justice Act Applies, Not the Adult CPA

The Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 came into operation on 1 April 2010 and replaced the previous application of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 to children. It applies to every child under 18 suspected of having committed an offence — Centurion matters are not exempted or special-cased; the Act governs how every police station, magistrate’s court and Child Justice Court in the area must handle a juvenile case. The Child Justice Amendment Act, 2019 (Act 28 of 2019) commenced on 19 August 2022 (GG 46752, RG 11475, GoN 2400) and refined the diversion, sentencing and reporting framework; the current rules reflect that amendment. The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 runs in parallel and governs children in need of care and protection — a child under 12 who cannot be arrested for a crime is referred to the Children’s Court instead, on a care-and-protection track, not a criminal one. The Act is structured around restorative justice: the stated aims are to keep children out of the formal criminal system where possible, to encourage accountability to the victim, and to promote reintegration into the family and community.

Criminal Capacity by Age: Who Can Be Arrested and Prosecuted

The Child Justice Act sets three age bands, and the band your child falls into at the time of the alleged offence dictates the entire criminal-justice track:

Age at the time of the offence	Criminal capacity position	Practical consequence
Under 12	No criminal capacity at all.	The child cannot be arrested or charged. Police must refer the matter to the Children’s Court for a care-and-protection response; the criminal-justice track does not open.
12 to under 14	Rebuttable presumption of no criminal capacity.	The child may be arrested, but the State bears the burden of proving criminal capacity before the child can be convicted. This is the most fact-sensitive age band — a competent Centurion defence attorney will scrutinise the State’s capacity evidence carefully.
14 to under 18	Full criminal capacity.	The child may be arrested, prosecuted and diverted at the prosecutor’s discretion. Bail, plea and trial follow the standard child-justice procedural rules, not the adult CPA defaults.

A child who turns 18 after being charged continues to be dealt with under the Child Justice Act for the duration of that matter — the age at the time of the alleged offence is what governs, not the age at trial.

The Three Offence Categories — They Drive the Whole Process

The Act splits offences into three schedules. The categorisation is not academic — it determines whether a 48-hour preliminary inquiry will be held, whether the prosecutor must consider diversion as the default, and which sentencing options are realistically available.

Schedule	Examples	Impact on diversion
Schedule 1 — minor / least serious	Theft of property not exceeding R2 500; malicious damage to property not exceeding R1 500; common assault.	Most first-time minor matters in Centurion fall here (shoplifting at Centurion Mall, minor school-yard assaults). The strongest case for diversion lives in this band; Level 1 diversion applies.
Schedule 2 — more serious	Theft exceeding R2 500; robbery (without aggravating circumstances); assault that includes causing grievous bodily harm; public violence; culpable homicide; arson.	Diversion is still on the table but is no longer automatic. Level 2 diversion applies, with more structured restorative-justice interventions.
Schedule 3 — most serious	Robbery with aggravating circumstances; rape; murder; kidnapping.	Diversion is unlikely. Trial in the Child Justice Court and, on conviction, a sentencing hearing under the Act is the realistic path.

Step-by-Step: What Happens From Arrest to Preliminary Inquiry in Centurion

Once a child is taken into custody in Centurion, the Act lays down a strict sequence that the police, the probation officer and the magistrate’s court must follow:

1. Apprehension by SAPS. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, the child may be warned, given a summons, or arrested. SAPS is the first point of contact between the child and the criminal-justice system and the Act assigns police a wide range of compliance responsibilities.
2. Notification of charges and rights. The child and the parent or caregiver are informed of the charges, the child’s rights, the immediate procedures, and the date, time and place of the first court appearance.
3. Separate transport from adults. Under section 33(2)(c), the child must be transported separately from adults to and from any preliminary inquiry or child justice court. Where that is impossible, the police official must submit a prescribed written report to the presiding officer within 48 hours explaining the non-compliance.
4. Probation officer assessment. Every child alleged to have committed an offence must be assessed by a probation officer before the preliminary inquiry. The assessment feeds directly into whether diversion is recommended.
5. Preliminary inquiry at the Centurion Magistrate’s Court. The parent, caregiver or police bring the child to the Centurion Magistrate’s Court at Lyttelton Manor, the local seat for preliminary inquiries in the Tshwane Magisterial District. By law the inquiry must be held within 48 hours of arrest.
6. Outcome at the preliminary inquiry. Attendees include the magistrate, the child, parents, the prosecutor, the probation officer, the arresting police officer and a Legal Aid attorney. The magistrate then considers one of four outcomes.

What the Preliminary Inquiry Decides (Four Outcomes)

At the preliminary inquiry the magistrate is required to choose from one of four paths:

• Referral to the Children’s Court. Where the child is found to be in need of care or protection rather than dealt with on a criminal track, the matter is handed to the Children’s Court for a care-and-protection intervention.
• Diversion. Where the child accepts responsibility, the inquiry may recommend diversion — diversion with or without conditions, designed to keep the child out of the formal criminal system. If the child fails to complete or comply with the diversion, the matter returns to court.
• Trial in the Child Justice Court. Where no diversion order is made and the child is not a child in need of care, the matter is referred to the Child Justice Court for trial. The preliminary-inquiry magistrate also decides on detention or release pending trial.
• Acquittal or sentencing. At the end of the trial the child may be convicted and sentenced, or acquitted.

Diversion: The Default for Eligible Matters

Diversion is the channelling of criminal cases involving a child away from the criminal-justice system, with or without conditions, and is the single most important practical lever under the Act. Diversion may be considered in every case irrespective of the nature of the offence and irrespective of whether previous diversions have been ordered — it is not lost after a first diversion, although the prosecutor’s discretion narrows. A diversion order can be made at the preliminary inquiry or during the trial in the Child Justice Court until before closure of the State’s case.

Diversion level	Typical schedule	What it includes
Level 1	Schedule 1 (minor offences)	Oral or written apology to a specified person or institution; formal caution with or without conditions; supervision and guidance order; reporting order; compulsory school attendance order.
Level 2	Schedule 2 and some Schedule 3 matters	More structured restorative-justice interventions — family group conference, victim–offender mediation, compulsory residential or non-residential programmes, and similar processes.

The objectives of diversion set out in the Act include keeping the child out of the formal criminal system, encouraging accountability to the victim, meeting the particular needs of the child, promoting reintegration, avoiding stigmatisation, reducing re-offending, and preventing a criminal record — these objectives should anchor any defence team’s argument for diversion.

Sentencing Options if the Child Is Convicted

Where a child is convicted after trial in the Child Justice Court, the Act places imprisonment at the bottom of the sentencing hierarchy. The realistic options, in the order they appear in the Act, are:

Option	What it involves	Key constraint
Community-based sentence	The child remains in the community under supervision of an organisation, institution or specified person; community service may form part of the order.	Available across all schedules where appropriate.
Restorative justice	Family group conference, victim–offender mediation, or another restorative-justice process involving the child, the victim, the families and the community.	Depends on willingness of victim and child to engage.
Fine or symbolic restitution	Paying for or repairing damage from the child’s own money; an obligation to provide a service or benefit.	Symbolic restitution and service-benefit obligations are available only where the child is 15 or older.
Correctional supervision	Supervision by the Department of Correctional Services in accordance with the court order.	Used for more serious matters in lieu of imprisonment.
Non-custodial sanctions programme	Attendance of a school programme or other structured non-residential intervention.	Requires a suitable accredited programme.
Child and Youth Care Centre	Residential placement for a specified period.	Reserved for more serious matters; subject to automatic review on certain sentences.
Direct imprisonment	Detention in a correctional facility.	Only as a measure of last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period. A child under 14 may not be sentenced to imprisonment at all.

The Local Filing Layer: Where Centurion Matters Are Heard

Centurion falls in the Tshwane Magisterial District, with the Centurion Magistrate’s Court at Lyttelton Manor handling preliminary inquiries under the Child Justice Act. Diversion matters are largely disposed of at the Centurion Magistrate’s Court; matters sent to trial are referred to the Child Justice Court. More serious matters that escalate to the High Court are heard at the Gauteng Division of the High Court’s Pretoria seat (Centurion is in the Pretoria seat of the Gauteng Division, not the Johannesburg seat). A juvenile arrested in Centurion will typically be processed through one of the local SAPS stations — Lyttelton, Wierdabrug (Pierre van Ryneveld), Eldoraigne, Rooihuiskraal, or the broader Tshwane cluster — and brought to the Centurion Magistrate’s Court at Lyttelton Manor for the 48-hour preliminary inquiry.

The Centurion branch of Burger Huyser Attorneys (Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, 012 644 4990) is the practical intake point for Centurion-based criminal-defence instructions involving minors; after-hours bail cover is available on 069 522 7696.

What a Defence Attorney Actually Does in a Juvenile Matter

Engaging a Centurion-based criminal-defence attorney at the earliest opportunity, ideally before the 48-hour preliminary inquiry, materially affects how the matter is run. The defence lawyer’s role in practice runs across five distinct functions:

• Attending the preliminary inquiry with the child and family. The defence attorney’s role at the 48-hour inquiry is to argue for diversion, to test the State’s case on criminal capacity (in the 12 to under 14 age band), and to oppose detention pending trial.
• Engaging with the probation officer’s assessment before the inquiry. The assessment feeds directly into the magistrate’s diversion decision; a defence team that has seen the assessment can prepare a focused diversion proposal.
• Advising the family on which diversion programme to accept. Including any conditions attached to a Level 1 or Level 2 pathway.
• Instructing the prosecutor on the merits where diversion is contested. And preparing for a Child Justice Court trial if diversion fails or is refused.
• Making submissions on sentencing on conviction. The Act’s preference for community-based and restorative options is something a defence team should put squarely before the court.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ criminal defence practice, run through the firm’s criminal-law team under Managing Director Marni Huyser’s overall practice oversight, treats the preliminary inquiry and any subsequent trial as part of one instruction rather than separate engagements — which is the practical way to set a Centurion juvenile file up properly from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can a child be arrested for a crime in Centurion?

Under the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008, a child under the age of 12 cannot be arrested — they have no criminal capacity and the matter is referred to the Children’s Court. A child aged 12 to under 14 can be arrested, but the State must prove criminal capacity before they can be convicted (capacity is presumed absent in this band). A child aged 14 to under 18 has full criminal capacity and may be arrested, prosecuted or diverted at the prosecutor’s discretion.

How quickly must a child be brought before a court after arrest?

The Child Justice Act requires that a preliminary inquiry be held within 48 hours of arrest. That inquiry sits at the magistrate’s court for the district where the arrest took place — for Centurion matters, the Centurion Magistrate’s Court at Lyttelton Manor. The child’s parents or caregivers, a Legal Aid attorney, the arresting officer and a probation officer must be present.

What is diversion and is it available for serious offences?

Diversion is the channelling of a criminal case involving a child away from the formal criminal-justice system, with or without conditions. It is available irrespective of the nature of the offence and even where the child has been diverted before, although the prosecutor’s discretion narrows with each prior diversion. Level 1 diversion (apology, caution, supervision order, reporting order, compulsory school attendance) applies to Schedule 1 / least serious offences; Level 2 diversion (family group conference, victim–offender mediation, structured programmes) extends to more serious schedules.

Can a child under 18 be sent to prison?

Only as a measure of last resort, only for the shortest appropriate period, and never for a child under 14. The Act places imprisonment at the bottom of the sentencing hierarchy for children, with community-based sentences, restorative justice, correctional supervision, non-custodial sanctions programmes and Child and Youth Care Centre placement listed before it. The court must be satisfied that no other sentencing option is appropriate before direct imprisonment can be imposed on a minor.

Does my child need a lawyer for the preliminary inquiry?

A Legal Aid attorney is present at the preliminary inquiry by design under the Act, but that is not the same as privately-instructed defence representation. A privately-instructed Centurion criminal-defence attorney can engage with the probation officer’s assessment before the inquiry, make representations on diversion, test criminal-capacity evidence in the 12 to under 14 age band, and argue against detention pending trial. For any matter that may escalate to the Child Justice Court or the Gauteng Division (Pretoria seat), private representation at the preliminary-inquiry stage is the practical way to set the file up properly.

Where will my child’s case be heard if it is not diverted?

Diversion-eligible matters are typically disposed of at the Centurion Magistrate’s Court. Matters sent to trial in the Child Justice Court are heard in the regional child-justice court for the area. Matters that escalate further — for example Schedule 3 offences — are heard at the Gauteng Division of the High Court’s Pretoria seat (Centurion is in the Pretoria seat of the Gauteng Division, not the Johannesburg seat).

If a child in your family has been arrested, summoned or warned for an alleged offence in Centurion, Burger Huyser Attorneys’ criminal-law practice can take instructions through the firm’s Centurion branch on 012 644 4990 (after-hours 069 522 7696 for urgent bail matters). The branch sits at Block 12, Unit 34, First Floor, Central Office Park, 257 Jean Avenue, Centurion, 0157, and is the practical intake point for Centurion-based instructions involving the Child Justice Act — including representation at the 48-hour preliminary inquiry at the Centurion Magistrate’s Court, engagement with the probation officer’s assessment, and diversion or trial advocacy. Initial conversations are booked through the Centurion branch directly. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and supports its Centurion criminal-law work through the firm’s broader Gauteng branch network.