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Citation
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Judgment date
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| August 2025 |
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A conviction for attempted murder and firearms offences upheld on circumstantial evidence and application of common purpose doctrine.
Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – Proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt – Firearms offences – Attempted murder – Application of common purpose – Chain of custody – Burden of proof – Evaluation of accused’s version and credibility.
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15 August 2025 |
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Accused discharged under section 174 after unreasonable prosecutorial delay and failure to secure state witnesses.
* Criminal procedure – unreasonable delay – section 35(3)(d) right to trial without unreasonable delay – section 342A enquiry; State’s duty to confirm witness availability and issue subpoenas. * Institutional shortcomings (faulty/stolen CCTV, resource constraints) do not constitute exceptional circumstances unless unforeseeable and unremediable. * Court may invoke section 174 mero motu and discharge accused where no evidence and prosecution cannot proceed.
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14 August 2025 |
| July 2025 |
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Alcohol intoxication and pre-trial detention were considered in sentencing for rape and kidnapping.
Criminal Law – Sentencing – Influence of alcohol as a mitigating factor – Justification for deviating from prescribed penalties in severe offenses such as kidnapping and rape.
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30 July 2025 |
| June 2025 |
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Court started at life imprisonment for rape of a mentally disabled victim but found substantial and compelling circumstances to impose 20 years.
Criminal law — Sexual offences — Rape of mentally disabled person — Section 51(1) Criminal Law Amendment Act: life imprisonment as starting point — Substantial and compelling circumstances and proportionality permitting departure — Sentencing considerations: vulnerability, abuse of trust, harm (pregnancy/abortion), moral blameworthiness — Ancillary orders: sex-offender registration, publication ban, psychological support, firearms measures, employment prohibition.
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18 June 2025 |
| May 2025 |
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Court convicted both accused of kidnapping and rape; second accused additionally convicted of assault.
Criminal law – Kidnapping; Sexual offences (rape) – section 3 read with s.51(1) Criminal Law Amendment Act – common purpose/active association; Credibility assessment – alcohol, trauma, police statements and peripheral inconsistencies; Bare denial defence – when rejection is permissible; Assault versus assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
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16 May 2025 |
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Complainant's intellectual disability renders her incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse, affirming conviction.
Criminal law - Sexual offences - Consent - Intellectual disability restricts capacity to consent - Knowledge of inability to consent.
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15 May 2025 |
| August 2024 |
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Court finds substantial and compelling reasons to deviate from life imprisonment for a young first-time offender convicted of rape.
Criminal Law – Rape – Sentencing considerations – substantial and compelling circumstances – deviation from minimum life imprisonment – suitability for correctional supervision.
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19 August 2024 |
| June 2024 |
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Court sentences rapist and reaffirms minimum sentencing norms emphasizing community protection and justice system confidence.
Criminal Law - Sentencing - Rape - Minimum Sentences - Social Impact and Judicial Responsibility
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28 June 2024 |
| May 2024 |
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On the totality of credible complainant testimony and medical evidence, the accused was convicted of rape; consent must be affirmatively communicated.
Criminal law – Sexual offences – Rape – Single-witness complainant evidence assessed in context of totality of evidence; medical proof of fresh perineal injuries supports penetration; consent requires affirmative communication; silence/passivity not consent; Browne v Dunn obligations and impact of breaches on defence evidence.
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16 May 2024 |
| April 2024 |
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Court convicted accused of two sexual-offence counts; complainant credible and medical evidence confirmed penetration.
Criminal law — Sexual offences — sufficiency of evidence and proof of penetration; credibility assessment of single complainant; corroboration by medical and independent witness evidence; refusal of section 174 discharge.
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30 April 2024 |
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Application for leave to appeal a life sentence for rape with intent to cause grievous harm was refused due to lack of misdirection.
Criminal Law – Sentencing – Appeal against sentence – Minimum sentence for rape with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – Discretionary misdirection and individual circumstances in sentencing. |
16 April 2024 |
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Court suspended a four-year sentence for sexual assault with community-based conditions and a publication ban on the complainant.
Sentencing — sexual offences — individualized sentencing and proportionality; denunciation and deterrence vs rehabilitation; suspended (community) sentence with punitive and restorative conditions; restitution as punitive element; ancillary orders — firearms fitness and publication ban on complainant.
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8 April 2024 |
| March 2024 |
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Whether intoxication-induced memory loss negated capacity to consent; court found reasonable doubt and acquitted the accused.
Sexual offences — Consent is subjective; capacity to consent is a precondition — Intoxication and blackout do not automatically negate capacity — State must prove incapacity or lack of consent beyond reasonable doubt — Circumstantial evidence and prior relationship relevant to credibility but not dispositive — Section 174 discharge considerations where multiple inferences arise.
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27 March 2024 |
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Court imposes 15 years for rape and 8 years for attempted murder, considering compelling circumstances and proportionality.
Criminal Law – Sentencing – Rape and Attempted Murder – Substantial and compelling circumstances – Proportionality in sentencing
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20 March 2024 |
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The court addressed the culture of delay in criminal proceedings, emphasizing the right to timely trials.
Criminal procedure – Unreasonable delay – Effects on fair trial rights under section 35 – Measures to prevent future delays.
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19 March 2024 |
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Court convicts the accused of rape and attempted murder, affirming the credibility of the complainant's testimony.
Criminal law – Rape and attempted murder – Issues of credibility and reliability of witnesses – Assessment of identification evidence.
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13 March 2024 |
| February 2024 |
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Court imposed 18 years for child rape after finding proportionality and alcohol intoxication amounted to substantial and compelling circumstances.
Criminal law — Sexual offences against children — Sentencing principles — Section 51 Criminal Law Amendment Act (mandatory life) — Substantial and compelling circumstances — Proportionality and parity — Alcohol intoxication as mitigation — Ancillary orders: publication ban, sex‑offender registry, declaration unsuited to work with children, social‑welfare interventions.
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26 February 2024 |
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Complainant credible and supported by medical evidence, but total evidence left reasonable doubt; respondent acquitted.
Criminal law – Sexual offences – single-witness child complainant – corroboration by medical evidence – presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt – delays and memory gaps – credibility assessment.
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22 February 2024 |
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Application to admit prior sexual history under section 227 dismissed; relevance and prejudice balancing decisive.
* Criminal Procedure Act 51/1977 s227 – admissibility of prior sexual experience; relevance threshold and statutory factors; prohibition of twin‑myth inferences; limited exceptions for prior negotiations/customs; probative value versus prejudice.
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7 February 2024 |
| December 2023 |
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Court departs from the minimum sentence for murder, imposing 12 years due to mitigating factors like intoxication.
Criminal Law - Murder - Sentencing adhering to proportionality with mitigating factors considered in sentence departure; intoxication and retribution principles discussed.
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28 December 2023 |
| September 2023 |
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Court prioritizes deterrence in sentencing for hunting endangered species, emphasizing public education and compliance.
Environmental law – Sentencing – Endangered species – Deterrence as a primary sentencing objective – Role of remorse in regulatory offences
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18 September 2023 |
| August 2023 |
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Lapse of time and good conduct do not avoid life sentence for child rape absent substantial and compelling circumstances.
Criminal law – Sexual offences against children – Rape of person under 16 – Minimum sentence regime (s51(1) Criminal Law Amendment Act) – Life imprisonment ordinarily prescribed – lapse of time and good conduct considered but not per se substantial and compelling circumstances – sentencing principles: denunciation, general deterrence, victim harm, abuse of trust, duration/frequency and age of victim – ancillary orders: sexual offenders’ register, unsuitability to work with children, victim assessment.
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31 August 2023 |
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State-induced delay breached the accused's right to a timely trial; matter struck off under section 342A (DPP instruction required for re-prosecution).
Criminal procedure – Right to trial within a reasonable time – Institutional/administrative delay (non-functioning CCTV; failure to subpoena witnesses) – State responsibility – Section 342A(3) Act 51/1977 – Remedy: matter struck off roll; no re-initiation without DPP instruction.
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31 August 2023 |
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Historic child‑sexual‑abuse conviction upheld on credible single‑witness evidence and contextual assessment of delayed reporting.
* Criminal law – sexual offences – historic child sexual abuse – assessment of single complainant evidence and delay in reporting; relevance of grooming and position of trust.
* Evidence – credibility vs reliability – court may convict on single witness where testimony is satisfactory in context.
* Procedure – bare denial insufficient for acquittal if rejected in light of cogent conflicting evidence.
* First report evidence – social worker’s report and contemporaneous notes admissible and probative.
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25 August 2023 |
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Case struck off roll due to unreasonable delay in trial proceedings under Section 342A Criminal Procedure Act.
Criminal procedure – unreasonable trial delay – Section 342A Criminal Procedure Act – state responsibility – complainant absenteeism.
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6 August 2023 |
| July 2023 |
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Court acquitted the accused where suggestible, peripheral child evidence and sparse prosecution proof left reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – sexual offences – child complainant evidence – apply common‑sense approach; distinguish core versus peripheral evidence; delay and suggestibility not necessarily fatal; bare denial insufficiently displaced where State’s case is historically remote and sparse; acquittal where reasonable doubt remains.
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27 July 2023 |
| June 2023 |
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The respondent’s reckless foresight (dolus eventualis) established murder despite voluntary intoxication.
Criminal law – Murder – Mens rea – Dolus eventualis (subjective foresight and reconciliation) – Causation by blunt force (kicking/stomping) – Credibility and internal inconsistencies of accused’s testimony – Voluntary intoxication insufficient to negate dolus eventualis – Conviction under s51(2) of Act 105 of 1997.
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21 June 2023 |
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Court found proportionality and intoxication substantial and compelling and imposed ten-year sentence for murder under s.51(2).
* Criminal law – Murder – Minimum sentences – Section 51(2) Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 – necessity of substantial and compelling circumstances.
* Sentencing – proportionality as central principle; balancing denunciation, deterrence, rehabilitation and separation.
* Intoxication – as factor potentially constituting substantial and compelling circumstances.
* Ancillary orders – Firearms Control Act s.103 (search and seizure); Criminal Procedure Act s.299A (family parole participation); directions for psychological assessment and therapy for victim’s family.
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21 June 2023 |
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The respondent’s large-scale illegal possession of protected rock lobster warranted a suspended five-year imprisonment with restorative and community-service conditions.
Marine Living Resources Act – Illegal possession of large quantities of West Coast rock lobster – Seriousness of offence, deterrence and denunciation – Guilty plea and personal circumstances – Suspended custodial sentence with restorative/community-service conditions – Forfeiture and ancillary Firearms Control Act orders.
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15 June 2023 |
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The accused’s guilty plea mitigated sentence, but robbery’s seriousness and deterrence justified five years’ imprisonment.
Criminal law – Sentencing principles – proportionality, denunciation and deterrence – robbery as a serious prevalent offence; guilty plea and remorse as mitigating factors; ancillary orders under Firearms Control Act (s103).
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14 June 2023 |
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Accused discharged under section 174 where serious inconsistencies and lack of corroboration rendered the State’s case insufficient.
Criminal procedure – section 174 Criminal Procedure Act 51/1977 – discharge at close of State case where evidence insufficient; Credibility – assessment of internal and external inconsistencies; Constitutional right – principle against self‑incrimination and ‘case to meet’ requirement; Sexual offences – need for proved age and corroboration where central issues are disputed.
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5 June 2023 |
| January 2014 |
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The accused received an eighteen-year sentence for rape, emphasizing deterrence and proportionality.
Criminal Law - Sentencing - Rape case under Criminal Law Sexual Offences Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act - Eighteen years imprisonment imposed.
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15 January 2014 |