Case Law[2022] ZAGPPHC 12South Africa
Pillay v S (A223/2020) [2022] ZAGPPHC 12 (10 January 2022)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
10 January 2022
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Pillay v S (A223/2020) [2022] ZAGPPHC 12 (10 January 2022)
Pillay v S (A223/2020) [2022] ZAGPPHC 12 (10 January 2022)
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sino date 10 January 2022
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG DIVISION,
PRETORIA
(1) REPORTABLE: NO
(2) OF INTEREST TO
OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3)
REVISED: NO
DATE: 10 JANUARY
2022
CASE NO.A223/2020
In the matter
between:
ROLSTON
PILLAY
APPELLANT
And
THE
STATE
RESPONDENT
JUDGMENT
Delivered: This
judgement was prepared and authored by the Judge whose name is
reflected and is handed down electronically by circulation
to the
parties/their legal representatives by email and by uploading it to
the electronic file of this matter on CaseLines. The date
for
hand-down is deemed to be 10 January 2022.
(
MOTHA AJ
INTRODUCTION
1.
The Appellant was convicted in the Regional
Court, Benoni, on a count of Murder on 12 June 2020 and sentenced to
15 years’ imprisonment
on 13 August 2020. The Appellant was legally
represented throughout the trial. The following pages were missing
from the record,
pages: 186, 293, and 295.
2.
The Appellant was charged with the murder of Vely
Molala, a 17 year old male by shooting him with a firearm on or about
19 May 2017.
He pleaded not guilty and presented the court with a
written Plea explanation in terms of Section 115 (1) of the Criminal
Procedure
Act 51 of 1977 (“the Act”).
3.
Furthermore, he made admissions in terms of
Section 220 of the Act,
inter alia
,
that he fired two shots with his service pistol in the direction of
the deceased and that the deceased died on 19 May 2017 from
the
injuries sustained as per the post mortem report.
4.
He was warned that the minimum sentence of 15
years in terms of the
Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997
, as
amended, is applicable.
5.
The Appellant successfully applied for leave to appeal both
the conviction and sentence. His
defence is that of self-defence
(private defence). The Appellant’s counsel confirmed that he was
not relying on Section 49(2) of
the Act. Furthermore, he confirmed
that the Appellant would not be prejudiced by the absence of the
missing pages because they were
not material.
AD
CONVICTION
6.
The Court
a quo
has detailed the sequence of events. Therefore, it is unnecessary to
rehash same save to focus on the following facts;
6.1.
The Appellant was a metro police officer who was
on duty on the day in question. It bears mentioning that a reference
to his statement
is indispensable. Therefore, it is apt to mention
the important parts thereof which read as follows:
“
I noticed two
black males wearing civilian clothing running down Great North Road
direction, Bunyan Street. Bunyan Street is a one-
way street in a
Northerly direction. I drove on the one-way road facing oncoming
traffic, but I did so in a safe way with my blue
lights and siren on.
The two men were
running next to the vehicle and trying to get away from the vehicle.
I told them to stop as I wanted to question
them regarding the
robbery complainant but they ignored my request and continued running
away from me.
I carried on
following them on the oncoming road. I reiterated to them that they
must stop as I wanted to enquire as to why they were
running away
from the police under suspicious circumstances.
As I crossed onto
Bunyan Street I once again instructed the two males to stop as I am a
police officer. The two men were running next
to each other. One of
the men then pointed a firearm revolver into my direction and fired
once into my direction.
As my life was in
danger I then returned fire with my service pistol into the direction
of the two men who were still running next
to each other. The men
then ran onto the embankment on the grass section next to the road.
I got out of my
vehicle in order to give chase on foot as I was unable to follow them
further with my vehicle. As I got out of my
vehicle another shot
fired into my direction.
As my life was in
danger I took cover behind the barrier next to the road and fired a
shot into the direction of the two men who were
at that stage still
next to each other whilst one of them was still pointing the firearm
in my direction. The time was about 13H24.
I saw one of the men
falling down whilst the other one ran away. I called for backup”.
[1]
7.
I will revert back to this statement at a later
stage.
8.
The State called three witnesses, Mr Mpilo
Kubeka, a so-called street kid, Ms Motshepe an investigator in the
EMPD and Mr. Naicker
the investigating officer. The State relied on
the evidence of a single witness, Mr Kubeka.
9.
It is worth noting that Mr Kubeka was well known
to the Appellant. The Appellant used to take him to McDonalds to buy
him food.
MS. MOTSHEPE’S
AND MR. NAICKER’S TESTIMONIES
10.In short, Ms
Motshepe stated that she was in the company of a senior Investigating
officer from IPID, Thulani Magagula, when he
received a call from the
Appellant.
11.She found this to
be strange because the Appellant was supposed to report to his
officers in command first. She then attended the
scene with Thulani
Magagula. She spoke to the Appellant who told her that he had been
shot at and stones were thrown at him.
12.She went back to
the scene after two days or so and interviewed Mr Kubeka. She did not
know the witness and saw him for the first
time at the day of the
incident. Under cross-examination it became clear that the witness
statement was obtained on 12
July
2017, almost two months after the incident.
13.Furthermore, she
was cross-examined at length about a half brick which was never
captured in the photographs taken at the scene.
Her evidence does not
warrant further attention other than to state that there were
contradictions about the presence of a half brick.
14.I agree with the
court
a quo
that her
evidence was not the best but it does not take the matter any further
since she was not present when the shots were fired.
15.Nothing turns on
the evidence of the Investigating officer, Mr Naicker, save to note
the contradiction between his and Ms. Motshepe’s
evidence on when
the witness was first consulted.
16.The case pivots
around dramatis personae who are Mr Kubeka and the Appellant.
MR KUBEKA’S
TESTIMONY
17.The incident
happened on 19 May 2017. Mr Kubeka’s evidence was heard almost
two-years later on 03 May 2019.
18.He testified that
he was begging at his usual spot between 13:00 and 14:00 in the
afternoon on 19 May 2017. Whilst he was seated
at corner Bunyan and
N12 three young boys appeared and went past him. He stated that they
were going to a school in Farrarmere. After
30 minutes only two of
the boys re-appeared running.
19.Behind them was a
metro police vehicle driven by the Appellant. He testified that he
saw three gunshots fired by the Appellant.
The first gunshot was
fired by the Appellant next to the BP garage. When he heard that
gunshot he saw that the Appellant had his
hand outside the window of
his motor vehicle and had fired into the air.
20.The second shot
was fired when the Appellant had brought his motor vehicle to a halt.
The two boys were at that stage going up
a slope towards a railway
line. It is the second shot that hit one of the boys who then fell
down.
21.The third shot,
according to Mr Kubeka, was fired by the Appellant when the second
boy tried to rescue the one who had fallen.
Upon hearing that shot
the boy ran away.
22.The evidence of
Mr Kubeka is borne out by the photographs taken at the scene.
Furthermore, his evidence dovetails with the Appellant’s
testimony
in certain material respects.
23.For example, in
his plea explanation the Appellant mentions that he fired a shot as a
response to being fired at whilst still in
his car. This corroborates
the evidence of Mr Kubeka that he fired a shot whilst still in his
car.
24.Mr Kubeka was
cross-examined at length and notable contradictions emerged. These
were in relation to when he first saw the two
boys whether they were
running or walking. Further contradiction was his failure to properly
account on what drew his attention to
the boys.
25.He also
contradicted himself as to whether he saw the Appellant firing the
first shot or he just heard it. There were also contradictions
between his statement and his evidence. However, his evidence that
the two boys neither fired at the Appellant nor possessed any
firearm
remained uncontradited. If anything, this evidence was corroborated
by the objective facts and the photographs taken at the
scene.
26.I agree with the
court
a
quo
that, taking into account the length of
time that had passed before his testimony, his evidence was
satisfactory in all material
respects. Given that this was not a
static scene and the time lapse between his testimony and the
incident, it would be strange if
there were no contradictions.
27.Dealing with
contradictions between a witness statements and his or her
viva
voce
evidence in
S
v
Mafaladiso
[2]
the court held that:
“
The legal
approach to contradictions between two witnesses and contradictions
between the versions of one and the same witness (such
as between his
or her viva voce testimony and previous statement) is, in principle
(if not in degree) identical. After all, the purpose
is in no way to
prove which of the versions is the correct one, but to bring
conviction that the witness may err, either because
of a defective
recollection or because of dishonesty (see Wigmore aw paragraph
1017). In the case of self-contradiction, in particular,
Wigmore
rightly states (tap paragraph 1018)...’’
28.Despite these
contradictions Mr Kubeka’s credibility was not affected, as the
court
a quo
found him
to be a credible witness. The Law, in as far as credibility is
concerned, is clear. In the matter of
S v Leve
the court held:
“
The
fundamental rule to be applied by a court of appeal is that, while
the appellant is entitled to a re-hearing because otherwise
the right
of appeal becomes illusory, a court of appeal is not at liberty to
depart from the trial court’s findings of fact and
credibility
unless they are vitiated by irregularity or unless an examination of
the record of evidence reveals that those findings
are patently
wrong. The trial court’s findings of fact and credibility are
presumed to be correct because the trial court, and
not the court of
appeal, has had the advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses and
is in the best position to determine where
the truth lies. See the
well-known cases of Rex v Dhlumayo
1948 (2) SA 677
(A) 705 and the
passages which follow; S v Hadebe
1997 (2) SACR 641
SCA 645; and S v
Francis
1991 (1) SACR 198
(A) 204C-F. These principles are no less
applicable in cases involving the application of a cautionary rule.
If the trial judge does
not misdirect himself on the facts or the law
in relation to the application of a cautionary rule but instead
demonstrably subjects
the evidence to careful scrutiny, a court of
appeal will not readily depart from his conclusions.”
[3]
29.On 05 November
2020 an application to lead new evidence was brought in terms of
Section 309B(5) of the Act. In a nutshell, the
new evidence is to the
effect that Mr Kubeka was influenced by the investigating officer Mr
Naicker and the other state witness Ms
Motshepe to lie about the
Appellant.
30.Secondly, it is
that he did not mention that when he first saw the three boys, as
they were going to Farrarmere, one of them had
a firearm which was
tucked in his trouser. The importance of this statement is muzzled by
the fact that he never revealed this information
to anyone. He stated
the following:
“
PROSECUTOR
:
So basically they never said to you do not say anything about any of
the boys having a firearm, it is only that you did not mention
it.
MR KUBEKA
:
Yes I did not mention that. The reason why it is because the lady,
the metro lady has already told me that what if I am also involved,
I
would be involved one day what would happen if it would be me in that
situation.”
[4]
31.He, however,
stood by his earlier testimony that when the two boys re-appeared
they did not fire at the Appellant nor possess any
firearm. Under
cross-examination he stated that he was neither influenced by Mr
Naicker nor Ms Motshepe when he made his statement.
He stated the
following:
“
PROSECUTOR
:
Even during the shooting when the accused was shooting you never saw
this firearm.
MR KUBEKA
:
No I did not see the same firearm.
PROSECUTOR
:
So according to you the statement that was taken by Warrant Officer
Pretorius here in court being assisted by interpreter Mr Jose
you
confirm that is the true reflection of what happened.
MR KUBEKA
:
In Lizelle’s room?
PROSECUTOR:
Yes.
MR KUBEKA:
Yes.
PROSECUTOR
:
And you were not influenced in any way a bit by either Sergeant
Naicker or even Ms Motshepe the Metor Police officer to make the
said
statement.
MR KUBEKA:
No they did
not.”
[5]
32.This certainly
puts to bed the attempt to create an impression that there was a
conspiracy against the Appellant. Furthermore,
this new evidence
failed in its goal to mudding the waters. I, therefore, agree
with the sentiments expressed by the court
a
quo
that:
“
Therefore it
may be accepted as evidence on record. It is however also my view if
I had to evaluate the evidence and attach some weight
to it that on
its own it would have no impact on the court’s conviction as no
evidence except from the accused person that the
deceased and/or his
friend was armed at the time that he fired shots and apart from that
there is also no evidence except from the
accused person that the
deceased and/or his friend would have fired any shots. So I
would not attach any value to the new evidence
despite it being on
record. It would not affect the judgement of this court at all.”
[6]
THE
APPELLANT’S TESTIMONY
33.I now return to
his plea explanation mentioned under 6.1
supra.
Having read his statement in terms of Section 115 (1) of the Act,
which was commissioned on 28 May 2017, the Appellant confirmed
the
correctness thereof. This proved to be his undoing.
34.Under
cross-examination, the Appellant prevaricated and offered various
contradictory versions. In his plea explanation the Appellant
categorically states that he was pointed with a revolver which was
fired into his direction.
35.This changed
under cross-examination when he said:
“
More than a
kilometre I heard a shot. I saw the firearm which looked like a
revolver. I heard a shot. I stopped the vehicle. I jumped
out. I was
not sure exactly I heard that shot. The next thing while I am looking
at these guys the shot comes to me. I had to go
on the floor. ”
[7]
36.Still under
cross-examination and contrary to the plea explanation, he mentioned
that he only saw the revolver when he had gone
out of his car. He
stated the following:
“
ACCUSED
:
It came from that direction
PROSECUTOR
:
So you did not see who discharged this shot?
ACCUSED
:
No, no.
PROSECUTOR
:
You just heard the sound of a firearm?
ACCUSED
:
That is correct yes
PROSECUTOR
:
And at what stage do you see the firearm?
ACCUSED
:
When I got out of the vehicle and I was going in that direction I saw
that firearm pointing at me and I went on the floor when I
heard the
second shot.”
[8]
37.It was his
testimony that the distance between him and the two boys was plus,
minus ten metres, when he fired at them. It is at
this distance that
he saw the revolver carried by one of the boys for the first time.
38.I find this
highly improbable especially when he said: “After laying on the
floor and seeing, you know then I saw the revolver
that is why I
heard that shot.”
[9]
39.Hence, I am in
agreement with the court
a quo
that having regard to the tall grass between where the two boys were
and where the Appellant says he was when he fired the first
shot, it
was almost impossible to see the revolver whilst lying on the ground
and hiding behind a barrier.
40.The objective
facts arrived at
ex post facto
do not help the Appellant’s case in that the measured distance
between where the Appellant fired, also confirmed by his counsel,
his
first shot and where the deceased was is 43, 6 metres.
41.Furthermore, it
is strange that he was able to identify the revolver with precision
and yet he could not tell who was holding the
revolver between the
boys. This failure is illustrated under cross-examination where the
following was stated:
“
PROSECUTOR
:
Who had the firearm amongst the two boys?
ACCUSED
:
I do not even remember size, heights or whatever of those people. As
I’m saying that fire that I saw and the firearm was fired
in my
direction I went on the floor, the very same direction I returned
fire where I saw somebody.”
[10]
42.Contrary to his
plea explanation, he mentioned firing two shots when he was outside
his motor vehicle lying on the ground. This
takes the tally of the
shots he fired to three if one has regard to the plea explanation.
Materially this corroborates the version
of Mr Kubeka that the
Appellant fired three shots.
43.
The
Appellant’s counsel made a meal of the fact that the cartridges
were found in two different places namely, B and C. He submitted
that
if Mr. Kubeka was correct both the cartridges would have been found
on one spot.
However,
corroborating the evidence of Mr. Kubeka, the Appellant’s testimony
is that the second shot was also fired at the same
spot when he was
lying on the ground. The Appellant stated the following:
“
PROSECUTOR
:
Okay, you hid under the barrier, you discharged one shot?
ACCUSED
:
That is correct
PROSECUTOR
:
What happens from there?
ACCUSED
:
I cannot remember with exactly the first shot. I do not remember
exactly but I fired on and then I fired two.”
[11]
44.The Appellant’s
counsel conceded on more than three occasions that the Appellant was
not the best of witnesses. Whilst I agree
with the Appellant’s
Counsel I would go further than that and say he did not act in self
defence especially if regard is heard
to the following interaction:
“
PROSECUTOR
:
You say you go on the floor that is when a shot came out?
ACCUSED
:
No, no, no. From me a shot came out. Basically here I am driving
here. I hear a sound of a firearm. I jump out. I am looking at
you
and the other guy, two people together. I am looking at a firearm.
Next thing a shot and I am on the floor. I was not even sure
if I was
shot at that stage.”
[12]
45.The last sentence
deals a deadly blow to the Appellant’s version that he acted in
self-defence. Private defence is defined by
CR Snyman as follows:
“
A person acts in
private defence, and her act is therefore lawful if she uses force to
repel an unlawful attack which has commenced
or is imminently
threatening upon her or somebody else’s life, bodily integrity,
property or other interests which deserves to
be protected, provided
that the defensive act is necessary to protect the interest
threatened, is directed against the attacker and
is reasonably
proportionate to the attack.”
[13]
46.The court
a
quo
was correct in pointing out that the defence of private defence needs
to meet certain requirements before it can be accepted. I am
also
satisfied that the court was alive to the dicta in
S
v Ntuli
[14]
that in determining whether the appellant’s action was lawful or
not the court should not judge the events like an armchair critic.
47.One should
actually put oneself in as far as possible in the shoes of the
accused person and see whether he acted lawfully or not.
The
Appellant could not have acted in self-defence especially when his
viva voce
evidence is
to the effect that:
“
I cannot
remember exactly the first shot. I do not remember exactly but I
fired on and then I fired two.”
[15]
48.If the last
statement is correct, the defence of self-defence must fail. The
Appellant’s testimony is riddled with improbabilities
and
inconsistencies. He failed to explain why the entrance wound was on
the side of the deceased when his testimony is that they
were facing
him. His response to the court’s questions shed more light. He
stated the following:
“
COURT:
Were they facing you?
ACCUSED:
Yes, Your Worship when they fired, yes that is correct
COURT:
How many shots did you fire?
ACCUSED:
I fired two Your Worship
COURT:
Whilst they were facing you?
ACCUSED:
That is correct Your Worship
COURT:
Are you dead sure of that, they were no longer running
away?
ACCUSED:
Yes Your Worship I am sure.
COURT:
Are you dead sure of that?
ACCUSED:
I am sure.
COURT:
Then how come this guy is shot in the side?
ACCUSED
:
They were running up the bank that way, running up the bank like
this, they were facing me this way…”
[16]
49.It is telling
that the Appellant’s counsel conceded that the deceased did not
possess any firearm. As a corollary the deceased
could not have posed
a mortal threat to the Appellant which justified the use of lethal
force. There was no gun residue found on
the deceased nor was there
any firearm found.
50.The Appellant’s
counsel submitted that the principle that an accomplice to murder can
be charged with the murder of the deceased
is applicable here. He
relied on
S
v Nkosi
[17]
.
51.The facts of this
case are clearly distinguishable from
S v
Nkosi
. For starters the deceased was not an
accomplice to murder and common purpose cannot be gleaned from
running with his companion.
Secondly, the fact that neither the
Appellant’s car was hit with a bullet nor was the barrier hit,
shows that the Appellant was
not shot at.
52.It is clear that
the Appellant did not act in self-defence and his version is a
fabrication which was rejected by the court
a
quo
. Mr Kubeka is a single witness and was
found to be credible despite a few contradictions which were not
material.
53.Section 208 of
the Act makes it clear that an accused may be convicted of any
offence on the single evidence of any competent witness.
I am
satisfied that the court
a quo
took this into account and applied the necessary caution in dealing
with the witness as stated in
S v Sauls and
Another
where the court said:
“
There is no
rule of thumb test or formula to apply when it comes to a
consideration of the credibility of the single witness…The
trial
judge will weigh his evidence, will consider its merits and demerits
and, having done so will decide whether it is trustworthy
and
whether, despite the fact that there are shortcomings or defects or
contradictions in the testimony, he is satisfied that the
truth had
been told.”
[18]
54.
It
is trite that in criminal cases the onus rests on the State to prove
its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. In
S
v Van der Meyden
the test is set out as follows:
‘‘
The
onus of proof in a criminal case is discharged by the State if the
evidence establishes the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable
doubt. The corollary is that he is entitled to be acquitted if it is
reasonably possible that he might be innocent (see, for example
R v
Difford,
1937 AD 370
at 373 and 383).’’
[19]
55.In the matter of
S v Trainor
, the court
stated the following:
“
A
conspectus of all the evidence is required. Evidence that is reliable
should be weighed alongside such evidence as may be found
to be
false. Independently verifiable evidence, if any, should be weighed
to see if it supports any of the evidence tendered. In
considering
whether evidence is reliable the quality of that evidence must of
necessity be evaluated, as must corroborative evidence,
if any.
Evidence must of course be evaluated against the onus on any
particular issue or in respect of the case in its entirety.
The
compartmentalised and fragmented approach of the magistrate is
illogical and wrong.”
[20]
56.Looking at the
totality of the evidence, I can find no reasons to interfere with the
trial court’s decision. Therefore, in the
absence of any
misdirection in the trial Court’s conclusion and acceptance of the
evidence of the witness, the Appeal against conviction
must fail.
AD SENTENCE
57.The Appellant’s
is convicted of an offence which falls within part 2, schedule 2, of
the
Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997
which provides for a
Minimum Sentence of 15 years imprisonment. In order to deviate from
the minimum sentence, the court must find
substantial and compelling
circumstances present which will justify the imposition of a lesser
sentence than the one prescribed.
58.The issue of
sentence falls exclusively within the discretion of the trial court.
There is a plethora of cases to the effect that:
“
In any appeal
against sentence, whether imposed by a Magistrate or a Judge, the
court hearing the appeal-
(a)
should be guided by the principle that
punishment is pre-eminently a matter for the discretion of the trial
court and;
(b)
should be careful not to erode such
discretion: hence the further principle that the sentence should only
be altered if the discretion
has not been ‘judicially and properly
exercised’.
The test is
whether the sentence is vitiated by irregularity or misdirection or
is disturbingly inappropriate.”
[21]
59.It was further
stated in
S v Anderson
that:
“
Over the years
our Courts of appeal have attempted to set out various principles by
which they seek to be guided when they are asked
to alter a sentence
imposed by the trial court. These include the following: the sentence
will not be altered unless it is held that
no reasonable man ought to
have imposed such a sentence, or that the sentence is out of all
proportion to the gravity or magnitude
of the offence, or that the
sentence induces a sense of shock or outrage, or that the sentence is
grossly excessive or inadequate,
or that there was an improper
exercise of his discretion by the trial Judge or that the interest if
justice require it.”
[22]
60.It is still
important to look at the triad highlighted in
S
v Zinn
. The following personal circumstances
were placed before the court:
60.1.
The Appellant was a 35 year old first time
offender;
60.2.
The Appellant was gainfully employed as a traffic
officer;
60.3.
The Appellant is the father of 2 minor children
and a family man;
60.4.
The Appellant is the sole provider for his
family;
60.5.
The Appellant was on duty when the offence was
committed;
60.6.
The Appellant acted after having received a
report of a robbery at a school;
60.7.
The fact that the Appellant is of ill health and
use chronic medication;
60.8.
The prevailing circumstances under which the
offence was committed;
Seriousness of
the offence:
61.The Appellant was
convicted of a serious offence. Any murder of a young soul deals a
heavy blow to the future of this country.
There was no proof that the
deceased had committed any offence, let alone shot at the police
officer. One would expect the police
officers to be well trained to
deal with the youth and their exuberance not to snuff life out of
them. The sense of Ubuntu is of
paramount importance in every sphere
of our lives. Accordingly, one would expect the police to exhibit
Ubuntu in their operation.
Interest of
the community:
62.The community
needs to be protected against wanton destruction of life. The police
are expected to be the torch bearers when it
comes to protecting the
community and human life.
63.Unfortunately,
there is a trend of the police taking the law into their own hands.
As correctly pointed out by the court
a quo
this reached a crescendo during the lockdown period. This must not be
allowed to go unabated.
64.Appellant’s
counsel submitted that the Appellant was acting during the
performance of his duties and that can be considered as
an
exceptional circumstances which will allow the court to deviate from
the minimum sentence. He also relied on the seminal case
S
v Rabie
where the court stated:
“
Punishment
should fit the criminal as well as the crime, be fair to society and
be blended with a measure of mercy according to the
circumstances”
[23]
65.The Appellant’s
counsel also relied on
S v Malgas
in particular where the court stated the following:
“
If
the sentencing court on consideration of the circumstances of the
particular case is satisfied that they render the prescribed
sentence
unjust in that it would be disproportionate to the crime, the
criminal and the needs of society, so that an injustice would
be done
by imposing that sentence, it is entitled to impose a lesser
sentence.”
[24]
66.However, one
cannot fully understand
S v Malgas
without
also looking at paragraph 25 (C) and (D) where the court held:
“
Unless there
are, and can be seen to be, truly convincing reasons for a different
response, the crimes in question are therefore required
to elicit a
severe, standardised and consistent response from the courts
.
The specified
sentences are not to be departed from lightly and for flimsy reasons.
Speculative hypotheses favourable to the offender,
undue sympathy,
aversion to imprisoning first offenders, personal doubts as to the
efficacy of the policy underlying the legislation,
and marginal
differences in personal circumstances or degrees of participation
between co-offenders are to be excluded.”
[25]
67.I agree with the
court
a quo
that the
imposition of a sentence in terms of Section 276(1)(i) of the Act, as
argued by the Appellant’s counsel, which sentence
will limit the
court’s discretion to a maximum period of 5 years, would be far too
lenient. In fact it would be shocking
as a stronger message
needs to be sent to those with the power of the powder keg.
68.The
court
a quo
could not find any substantial and
compelling circumstances to impose a lighter sentence, neither can I.
Therefore the trial court
correctly imposed a minimum sentence with
regard to the count of murder. Accordingly, I do not have
reasons to interfere with
the sentence imposed by the trial court.
In the result I make
the following order:
ORDER
1.
Appeal against both the conviction and sentence
are dismissed.
MOTHA AJ
ACTING JUDGE OF THE
HIGH COURT
GAUTENG DIVISION OF
THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA
I concur
PORTIA
D PHAHLANE
JUDGE
OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, OF THE HIGH COURT, PRETORIA
Date
of hearing: 25 November 2021
Date of judgment: 10
January 2022
Appearances:
For the Appellant:
Adv. M van Wyngaard
(Instructed by:
Leoni Naude Inc Attorneys).
For the Respondent:
GJC Maritz
(Instructed by:
Director of Public Prosecutions).
[1]
Vide
P.7 line 9- P.8
[2]
(13/2002)
[2002] ZASCA 92
;
[2002] 4 All SA 74
(SCA) (30 August 2002) para 9
[3]
(CA
60/2009, CC 34/2008) [2009] ZAECGHC 61;
2011 (1) SACR 87
(ECG) (10
September 2009) para 8
[4]
P. 47
line 10
[5]
P. 48
line 10
[6]
Judgement
P. 25 line 20
[7]
P. 171
line 20- P. 172
[8]
P. 172
line 20 – P. 173
[9]
P. 176
line 20
[10]
P. 196
line 20
[11]
P. 176
line 10
[12]
P. 177
line 20
[13]
Snyman
Sixth Edition of
Criminal
Law page 102
[14]
1975
(1) SA 429
AD P. 437 E
[15]
Ibid
11
[16]
P. 200
[17]
2016
(SACR) 301 (SCA)
.
[18]
1981
(3) SA 172(A)
at 180 E to G
[19]
S v
Van der Meyden
1999 (1) SACR 447
(W) at 448F-G.
[20]
(468/01)
[2002] ZASCA 125
;
[2003] 1 All SA 435
(SCA) (26 September 2002) para
9
[21]
S v
Rabie
1975 (4) SA 855
(AD) AT 857 D-E
[22]
1964(3)
SA 494 (A) 495 D-E
[23]
1975
(4) SA 855 (A)
[24]
(117/2000)
[2001] ZASCA 30
;
[2001] 3 All SA 220
(A) (19 March 2001) para 25 (I)
[25]
Ibid
24
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