Pretoria | Tuesday
THE Pretoria High Court has for the third time this year declined to endorse a conviction of a child rape accused because a magistrate failed to hold a proper enquiry to ensure the victim was a competent witness.
On Monday, Judge Johan Els set aside the rape conviction of a 26-year-old man from Doringlaagte in Rustenburg on the grounds that the Koster magistrate failed to ascertain whether the young victim was competent to testify.
The man, who may not be identified to protect the victim’s identity, was found guilty in January this year of repeatedly raping his seven-year-old stepdaughter between 1999 and January 2001.
Judge Els referred the case back to the magistrate’s court for a proper investigation, and ordered that the man be remanded in custody. The charges remain in place until the completion on the matter in the regional court.
In May this year, two convicted child rapists were acquitted because the proper procedures were not followed.
Judge George Webster acquitted a 33-year-old man who was found guilty by the Evander Regional Court for raping his 11-year-old daughter. Webster found that the girl was not properly sworn in as a witness.
The case had been referred to the high court for sentencing, but the man was eventually set free.
The State has appealed the ruling and the matter will now be heard in the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein.
In another incident, Judge Ronnie Bosielo overturned the conviction of 18-year-old Muzi Daniel Ntshalintshali by the Piet Retief Regional Court for raping a 14-year-old girl.
The judge found that the magistrate had failed to conduct a proper inquiry as to whether the victim understood what it meant to speak the truth.
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has meanwhile given instructions for Ntshalintshali’s retrial. – Sapa