A man convicted on a rape charge walked out of custody in Durban on Monday on bail of R50, after serving three years of a 10-year sentence.
The Durban High Court granted Zwelakhe Abednico Luthuli leave to appeal and permission for the court to hear new evidence in his case.
This followed the admission by his 19-year-old step-niece, who was the alleged rape victim, that her evidence had been a lie, his lawyer, Vassist Sewpal, said.
Her affidavit read that her mother — Luthuli’s step-sister — and two aunts had noticed her behaviour changed when she was 13 and asked her whether she had a boyfriend, said Sewpal.
Her aunts then carried out a virginity test that showed she had been sexually active.
Sewpal said that the niece had said that offering a name might stop her from being beaten.
The South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr), which had supported Luthuli, said it will seek legal advice to establish whether someone who was jailed while innocent should be given back his or her job.
”We shall also demand some kind of compensation for him for the time he spent in jail [if he wins his appeal against conviction],” said KwaZulu-Natal Sapohr chairperson Derrick Mdluli.
The case is scheduled to come up in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein pending the allocation of a court date. — Sapa