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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2024 |
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Court deemed arrest and detention lawful in a domestic violence charge; plaintiff's claim dismissed with costs.
Criminal Procedure – Domestic violence arrest – Lawfulness of warrantless arrest – Justification of detention – Exercise of discretion in arrest.
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3 December 2024 |
| November 2024 |
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Arrest and detention lawful where assault occurred in the presence of police and the officer’s discretion was rational.
Criminal procedure – Warrantless arrest – s 40(1)(a) CPA – assault committed in presence of police; discretion to arrest – rationality standard; detention – onus on police to justify custody and application of mind to release decision; credibility and probabilities in mutually destructive versions.
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29 November 2024 |
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Supermarket found liable for damages due to insufficient evidence of safety measures to prevent slip and fall accident.
Tort Law – Personal Injury – Slip and Fall – Negligence – Duty of Care – Res Ipsa Loquitur – Reasonableness of Safety Systems
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26 November 2024 |
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The defendant’s detention of the plaintiff on reasonable suspicion of card fraud was lawful; all claims dismissed.
Criminal procedure – Arrest by private person (s 42 CPA) – Objective reasonable-suspicion test; Evidence – corroboration by bank investigator and prior fraudulent transactions; Civil liability – limits of private detainer’s liability once police arrest occurs; Non-joinder – consequences of failing to join police/garage/other role-players; Defamation – requires arbitrariness or malice absent where detention based on reasonable suspicion.
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25 November 2024 |
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The court rescinded an unlawful taxation allocatur, limiting costs to a specific court order's timeframe.
Costs order - Rescission of allocatur - Whether covering entire defense costs was justified - Jurisdiction of court to rescind taxing master's decision.
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14 November 2024 |
| August 2024 |
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Accused were convicted for a fraudulent payment scheme against Massmart and money laundering violations.
Fraud – Unauthorised payments – Misrepresentation to Massmart and Standard Bank – Money laundering under the Prevention of Organized Crime Act.
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28 August 2024 |
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Attorney sentenced to imprisonment for theft of trust funds, emphasizing custodial sentences for maintaining professional integrity.
Criminal Law - Theft of trust funds - Sentencing of attorneys - Custodial sentences necessary to reflect crime's gravity and serve as deterrence.
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8 August 2024 |
| May 2024 |
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Court finds employees and a service provider guilty of fraud in false invoicing scheme using testimonial and circumstantial evidence.
Fraud – False invoicing – Reliable accomplice witness and hearsay evidence – Corporate crime implication – Inferential reasoning for guilt.
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14 May 2024 |
| April 2024 |
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Leave to appeal rape conviction refused after application of leave-to-appeal test and statutory definition of consent.
Leave to appeal — test of reasonable prospects of success; Sexual Offences Act — consent must be conscious and voluntary; mere submission/acquiescence not consent (Mugridge); section 1(3)(b) abuse of power relevant in parent-child sexual offences; leave to appeal refused.
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30 April 2024 |
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Accused father sentenced to lengthy imprisonment for raping his 15‑year‑old daughter; medical condition found substantial mitigating factor.
Sexual offences – intra‑familial rape of a child by her father – aggravating features: breach of trust, victim’s young age, offences in family home, protracted abuse, HIV infection; sentencing – primacy of denunciation and deterrence under s51 CLAA; proportionality test and recognition of substantial and compelling circumstances (medical condition); ancillary orders – publication ban, sex‑offender registration, declaration of unsuitability to work with children, notifications to social development, firearms licencing consequences.
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26 April 2024 |
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The court found the accused guilty of rape and assault based on credible testimony from child witnesses supported by medical evidence.
Criminal Law - Sexual Offences - Assessing credibility of child witnesses - Reliability without corroboration - Consistency in testimony.
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22 April 2024 |
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Court applies a common-sense approach to child evidence, convicts on rape and one assault count, rejects accused’s testimony.
• Evidence — Child witnesses: adopt a common-sense assessment; no automatic adult standard or mandatory corroboration requirement. • Sexual offences — credibility, delayed disclosure and peripheral inconsistencies do not necessarily defeat core consistent testimony. • Confirmatory evidence — medical reports and photographs can materially support complainants’ accounts. • Credibility — accused’s evasive and inconsistent testimony may be rejected; plea explanations are evidential material. • Procedural — defective or insufficiently particularised charges may prevent conviction on specific counts.
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22 April 2024 |
| February 2024 |
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Bail pending review refused where review prospects are remote, delay is inordinate and interests of justice oppose release.
Criminal procedure — Bail pending review after conviction — s 60(11)(b) CPA — test requires realistic prospects of success on review and that interests of justice permit release — delay, abuse of process, hearsay allegations of informal plea agreements and coercion by counsel — bail refused.
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29 February 2024 |