Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa - 1979 December

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5 judgments

Citation	Judgment date
December 1979
Masula en Andere v S (53/79) [1979] ZASCA 153 (20 Desember 1979) A lone accomplice’s cautious yet corroborated identification upheld multiple public‑violence convictions; appeals dismissed. Criminal law – public violence – accomplice evidence – cautionary rule – single accomplice identification – admissibility and corroboration of prior statements – appeal against conviction and sentence.	20 December 1979
Cinema City (Pty) Ltd v Morgenstern Family Estates (Pty) Ltd and Others (193/78) [1979] ZASCA 152 (5 December 1979) Whether "date of the roll" in a pricing formula meant the effective valuation date (1 July) or certification date. Contract interpretation – ambiguity in contractual reference to municipal valuation rolls – admissibility of surrounding circumstances to determine parties' common intention; "date of the roll" held to mean effective valuation date (1 July) for pricing formula; application of formula determines number of complete years and resolves purchase price dispute.	5 December 1979
Kruger v S (256/79) [1979] ZASCA 151 (3 Desember 1979) No duty to investigate diminished responsibility absent evidence linking psychiatric condition to the offences. Criminal law – Mental disorder – Psychiatric reports describing anxiety/neurosis do not compel inquiry into diminished responsibility absent evidence linking condition to the offences; no duty on trial court to investigate of its own motion where accused fails to adduce or request further psychiatric evidence.	3 December 1979
Peterson and Others v S (206/79) [1979] ZASCA 149 (3 Desember 1979) Court affirmed three inmates’ murder convictions but quashed one conviction due to duress (vis compulsiva). * Criminal law – Murder in prison cell – eyewitness testimony and post‑mortem corroboration – sufficiency of evidence to prove conspiracy and participation. Criminal procedure – admissibility of statements under sections 115/220 (magistrate) – caution in reliance on contested confessions. Sentencing/mitigation – prison subculture and gang membership not automatically mitigating; burden on accused to prove material impairment. Defence – duress/vis compulsiva; objective test whether reasonable person in accused’s position ought to have resisted (S v Goliath).	3 December 1979
Sebekedi v S (306/79) [1979] ZASCA 150 (3 Desember 1979) Intoxication at the time of a murder can constitute a mitigating circumstance warranting reduction of a death sentence to imprisonment. * Criminal law – Murder – Intoxication as mitigating circumstance – Appellate review where trial court found sobriety – Sentence reduced from death to imprisonment. Evidence – Evaluation of probabilities, witness reliability and medical opinion on effects of alcohol.	3 December 1979