THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEAL OF SOUTH
AFRICA
REPORTABLE
CASE NO: 363/2005
In the matter between
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
KWAZULU-NATAL APPELLANT
and
P RESPONDENT
CORAM: HARMS, STREICHER, MTHI YANE JJA,
COMBRINCK and NKABINDE AJJA
HEARD: 9 NOVEMBER 2005
DELIVERED: 1 DECEMBER 2005
Summary: Sentence – appeal by state against sentence imposed on a 14 year
old girl up on conviction for murder of her grandmother and theft – whether
postponement of the pa ssing of sentence coupled with 36 months of correctional
supervision in terms of s 276(1)(h) of Act 51 of 1977 on certain conditions
appropriate, given the severity of the offence – traditional and post-
constitutional approach to sentencing with respect to a child offen der (under 18
years old) considered. Appellate court’s entitlement to interfere also considered.
JUDGMENT
MTHIYANE JA:
2
MTHIYANE JA:
Introduction
[1] This is an appeal by the state, w ith the leave of this court, against
the sentence imposed by Swain J, sitting in the High Court,
Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu Natal, upon the conviction of P, a 14 year
old girl (the accused), for the murder of her grandmother (the deceased)
and theft. The passing of sentence was postponed for a period of 36
months on condition that the accused complies with the conditions of a
sentence of 36 months of correctional supervision in terms of s 276(1)(h)
of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. These conditions include
provisions relating to house arrest, schooling, therapy, supervised
probation, and the performance of community service.
The Facts
[2] During the evening of 14 September 2002, some time after 20:00,
the accused, who was then 12 years and 5 months old, approached two
men, Mr Vusumuzi Tshabalala a nd Mr Sipho Hadebe , who were under
the influence of liquor, in the street in the vicinity of the house of the
deceased and asked them to help he r to kill her grandmother who, she
alleged while crying, had killed both her parents. She promised that they
3
could remove whatever they wished from the house and even promised
the one to have sexual relations w ith him in return for killing the
deceased. They followed he r into the house, where she again asked them
to kill the deceased who was lyi ng on a bed asleep. The accused had
earlier placed sleeping tablets in tea that she had made for the deceased.
The accused supplied them with kitc hen knives. Hadebe strangled the
deceased, resulting in her death, fro m what was described by the state
pathologist, Dr Dhanraj Maney, in the post-mortem report as ‘manual
strangulation’. Not satisfied, the accused insisted that the throat be cut,
which was done.
[3] The accused gave Tshabalala and Hadebe some jewellery and
permitted them to take a video record er, a satellite decoder and clothing
in return for having murdered the de ceased. Tshabalala and Hadebe were
arrested and charged with the murder of the deceased, to which they both
pleaded guilty on 2 October 2002 and were each sentenced to twenty five
years’ imprisonment.
[4] The accused’s explanation for he r participation in the killing was
that she had done so on the instructions of an erstwhile boyfriend of the
deceased’s daughter, who offered her money to kill the deceased. Her
evidence was that the plan how to k ill the deceased had been hatched by
4
this person. Swain J rejected the accused’s version and found that she had
acted of her own volition, with no external coercion. On the evidence as a
whole there is no reason to doubt the correctness of this finding. Despite
the rejection of her version, the accuse d persisted in it to the end. To this
day her motive for the murder is not known. After her father had
committed suicide she chose out of her own will to live with the deceased
in preference to living with her mother. The only motive one can surmise
is the fact that the deceased and she had an argument about her
relationship with a man of 20, w hom she phoned, running up a telephone
bill of about R2 000 during one month.
[5] On appeal the sentence was a ttacked by the state as being too
lenient given the gravity of the offences committed by the accused. The
state argued that the learned trial judge had failed to exercise his
discretion properly and misdirected hi mself in a number of respects. It
was submitted by counsel for the state that, given ‘the compelling
aggravating features peculiar to the murder’, direct imprisonment should
have been imposed upon the accused, notwithstanding her youth.
[6] In the view which I take of the matter I do not consider it necessary
to deal with each argument raised in this regard. Suffice it to say that,
having had regard to the evidence and the trial judge’s assessment of it, I
5
am satisfied that the judge gave due and careful, if not anxious,
consideration to the matter. I am not persuaded that, save in one material
respect, he misdirected himself.
[7] The trial judge, in my view, di d not approach the evidence of the
witnesses dealing with sentence with the necessary degree of objectivity
and accepted their say-so without considering whether they had a factual
basis for their opinion. This caused him to place too much emphasis on
the personal circumstances of th e accused, under-emphasising the other
material considerations. The evidence of Prof Sloth-Nielsen was in part
inadmissible. Courts do not need profes sors of law to tell them what the
law is or should be. The trial judge was especially taken in by the
evidence of Mrs Joan van Niekerk who, without any factual basis, came
to the conclusion that the accused’s childhood had shaped her to commit
the crimes in question. He also failed to consider that her evidence, as
that of some of the others, was not objective and was based on what the
accused had told them, while he kne w (and they should have known) that
the accused was a callous liar, prepared without compunction to concoct a
version, create a false alibi and weav e a web of falsehoods in order to
implicate others. After the murder she was able for months on end to hide
her complicity. This, according to the expert opinion of Mrs van Niekerk,
was all due to the fact that her fa ther had committed suicide, that the
6
relations between the de ceased and her mother were bad, that the
grandmother led a not exemplary lif e and that the accused hated her
grandmother, ignoring the fact that her version to others was that she
loved her.
[8] It might be the right opportunity to have regard again to the words
of Rumpff CJ when he dealt with a related matter in S v Loubscher:1
‘In hierdie stadium moet gemeld word dat Dr Hayden, wat nie 'n psigiater of
sielkundige is nie, 'n opinie uitgespreek het oor die waarskynlike verminderde
toerekeningsvatbaarheid van die beskul digde sonder dat hy enigsins sy opinie
geknoop het aan die spesifieke feite van hierdie saak. Ook is dit opmerklik dat die
deskundige getuies, wie se verklarings ek nog sal noem, versuim om dit te doen.’
‘Mens vra jouself af wat die waarde van hierdie "doppelgänger"-assumpsie [a
theory advanced by the experts] is in die lig van die antwoord van die beskuldigde.’
‘Die deskundiges wat die verklarings ge maak het, weet baie goed, of behoort
te weet, dat getuienis oor die geestestoe stand van 'n beskuldigde, wat aan moord
skuldig bevind is, alleen dan behoorlik oor weeg kan word wanneer die besonderhede
van die moord in aanmerking geneem word. Hulle weet, of behoort te weet, dat 'n Hof
nie staat kan maak op bewerings van 'n al gemene aard wat nie in verband gebring
word met die feite van die spesifieke geval nie.’
‘Indien die deskundiges die getuienis van die beskuldigde gelees het, soos dit
hulle plig was om te doen, moes hulle tot di e konklusie gekom het dat in die getuienis
daar geen indikasie hoegenaamd was dat beskuldigde anders as 'n "normale"
1 1979 (3) SA 47 (A) at 57.
7
misdadiger opgetree het nie en dat uit die ge tuienis as 'n geheel geneem, en uit die
pleeg van die daad self en die ander misdad e, daar geen rede geblyk het nie waarom
die beskuldigde as verminderd toerekeningsvatbaar beskou moes word.’
‘Die kritiek wat op die getuienis va n die deskundiges in hierdie saak
uitgespreek is, moet gesien word in die lig van die begeerte van die juris dat daar
samewerking behoort te wees oor die pr obleem van toerekeningsvatbaarheid en
aanspreeklikheid in verband met 'n misdaad tussen die juris aan die een kant, en die
psigiater of die sielkundige of die neur oloog aan die ander kant, met erkenning van
mekaar se grondliggende benadering en probleme.
Hierdie begeerte is reeds uitgespreek in 1967 in die Report of the Commission
of Inquiry into the Responsibility of Me ntally Deranged Persons and Related Matters.
Ná verwysing na voorbeelde van sekere u iterste gevalle van onaanvaarbare opinies
deur juriste en medici word die volgende gekonstateer in paras 1.19 en 1.20:
"1.19. It is these extreme views which call for a coolheaded approach
to the problems which are not to be evaded by the psychologist and the
psychiatrist, on the one hand, and the jurist on the other, but must be solved by
the co-operation of both parties in the best interests of society.
1.20. What is required of the psychi atrist and the psychologist is a
sense of responsibility towards the views of society and the purpose and
essence of punishment, and what is requi red of the jurist and the public is
appreciation for the development of psychiatric and psychological
knowledge."
Hiervolgens rus daar 'n plig op die juris sowel as op die geestesdeskundige en
dit is die plig van 'n geestesdeskundige om in 'n strafsaak nie sl egs algemene opinies
uit te spreek nie, wat miskien op mediese gebied as verantwoord beskou kan word,
8
maar om sy opinies te lewer met behoorli ke inagneming van wat die taak van 'n
verhoorhof is by die toepassing van die strafreg en veral by die oorweging van
toerekeningsvatbaarheid en strafregtelike aanspreeklikheid.’
[9] The accused, in my view, and in spite of her age and background,
acted like an ‘ordinary’ criminal and should have been treated as such.
She had no mental abnormalities and, something the judge had noted, was
able to pass herself off and in many respects acted like someone of about
18 years of age. That is what at least one witness thought her age was. All
the guesswork about her mental and phy sical age in contradistinction to
her actual age pales into insignificance.
[10] That is, however, not the end of the matter. What troubles, is
whether the sentence (if postponement of sentence can be regarded as a
sentence) imposed was appropriate in the circumstances of this case. The
test for interference by an appeal c ourt is whether the sentence imposed
by the trial court is vitiated by i rregularity or misdirection or is
disturbingly inappropriate. (See S v Rabie )2. Even in the absence of
misdirection, it would still be competent for this court to interfere if it
2 1975 (4) SA 855 (A) at 857D-F; See also S v Pillay 1977 (4) SA 531 (A); S v Pieters 1987 (3) SA 717
(A); S v Sadler 2000 (1) SACR 331 (SCA); S v Salzwedel and Others 1999 (2) SACR 586 (SCA).
9
were satisfied that the trial court had not exercised its discretion
reasonably3 and imposed a sentence which was not appropriate.
The Issue on Appeal
[11] In my view the issue on appeal can therefore be narrowed down to
whether the sentence imposed by the trial court was a ppropriate, given
that court’s duty to have regard to the seriousness of the offence and the
interests of society as well as the true character of the accused. This issue
must of course now be considered not only with reference to the so-called
traditional approach to sentencing but also with due regard to the
sentencing regime foreshadowed in s 28 (1) (g) of the Constitution and
international developments as refl ected in, for instance, instruments
issued under the aegis of the United Nations.
[12] There can be no question that at the best of times the sentencing of
a juvenile offender is never easy a nd is far more complex than the
sentencing of an adult offender (S v Ruiters4; SS Terblanche The Guide to
Sentencing in South Africa (1999)5). It is even worse if the youthful
offender concerned is a child, 6 as in this case. As pointed out in Brandt v
3 S v Pieters at 734H.
4 1975 (3) SA 526 (C) at 531E-F.
5 (1999) ch 12 375.
6 Section 28 (3) states: ‘child’ means a person under the age 18 years.
10
S7 our criminal justice system has neve r treated the sentencing of a child
offender as a ‘separate, self contai ned and compartmentalised’ field of
judicial activity. The youth of the o ffender has, howev er, always been
recognised at common law as a mi tigating factor for purposes of
sentence. (S v Jansen;8 S v Lehnberg en`n ander9)
The Traditional Approach
[13] The so-called traditional appro ach to sentencing required (and still
does) the sentencing court to consider the ‘triad consisting of the crime,
the offender and the interests of society’ (S v Zinn10). In the assessment of
an appropriate sentence, the court is re quired to have regard to the main
purposes of punishment namely, the deterrent, preventive, reformative
and the retributive aspects thereof ( S v Khumalo 11). To these elements
must be added the quality of mercy, 12 as distinct from mere sympathy for
the offender. As noted by this court in Brandt ‘the traditional aims of
punishment have been affected by the Constitution’.
The Constitution and the International Instruments
7 [2005] 2 All SA 1 (SCA) at para 14.
8 1975 (1) SA 425 (A).
9 1975 (4) SA 553 (A).
10 1969 (2) SA 537 (A) at 540G.
11 1984 (3) SA 327 (A) at 330D.
12 S v Rabie supra at 861D-F and 866A-C.
11
[14] With the advent of the Constitution the principles of sentencing
which underpinned the traditional approa ch must, where a child offender
is concerned, be adapted and applied to fit in w ith the sentencing regime
enshrined in the Constitution, and in keeping with the international
instruments which lay ‘emphasis on reintegration of the child into
society’.13 The general principle governing the sentencing of juvenile
offenders is set out in s 28 (1) (g) of the Constitution. The section reads:
‘Every child has the right –
(g) not to be detained except as a measure of last resort, in which case, in addition
to the rights a child enjoys under sections 12 and 35, the ch ild may be detained only
for the shortest appropriate period of time, and has the right to be –
(i) kept separately from detained persons over the age of 18 years; and
(ii) treated in a manner, and kept in conditions, that take account of the
child’s age; . . .’
[15] Section 28 has its origins in th e international instruments of the
United Nations. Of relevance to this case is the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) which South Africa ratified
on 16 June 1995 14 and thereby assumed an obl igation under International
Law to incorporate it into its domestic law. 15 Various articles under the
convention provide that juvenile offenders under the age of 18 years
13 Report on Juvenile Justice (Project 106) at 150.
14 In South Africa the 16 June is recognized as Children’s Day and is a public holiday.
15 S v Kwalase 2000 (2) SACR 135 (C) at 138g.
12
‘should as far as possible be dealt with by the criminal justice system in a
manner that takes into account their age and special needs.’ 16 Also of
relevance is article 40 (1) of the Convention which recognizes the right of
the child offender ‘to be treated in a manner consistent with the
promotion of a child’s sense of digni ty and worth, which reinforces the
child’s respect for human rights and fundamental freedom of others and
which takes into account the child’s age and the desirability of promoting
the child’s reintegration and the child ’s assuming a constructive role in
society.’17 Section 28 (1) (g) of our Constitution appears to be a replica of
s 37 (b) of the Convention which provid es that children in conflict with
the law must be arrested, detained or imprisoned ‘only as a matter of last
resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.’18
[16] The Convention has to be cons idered in conjunction with other
international instruments. Most of these instruments are referred to
extensively in Brandt.19 Of particular relevance in this case, however, is
the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of
Juvenile Justice (1985) (‘Beijing Rules’), in particular rule 5 (1). The rule
recommends that a criminal justi ce system should ‘ensure that any
reaction to juvenile offenders sha ll always be in proportion to the
16 S v Kwalase at 138g.
17 S v Kwalase at 138g.
18 S v Kwalase at 138i.
19 Para 16.
13
circumstances of both the offender and the offence’. 20 The rule should,
however, not be read in isolation because rule 17 (1) (a) provides that:
‘The reaction taken shall always be in pr oportion not only to the circumstances and
the gravity of the offence but also to the circumstances and the needs of the juvenile
as well as the needs of society’
The commentary notes that it is diff icult to formulate guidelines because
of the unresolved conflicts of a philosophical nature including
rehabilitation versus just deserts, assistance versus repression and
punishment, merits of the case versus protection of societ y in general and
general deterrence versus individual incapacitation.
The South African Law Commission
[17] In July 2000 the South African Law Commission Project
Committee on Juvenile Justice (Project 106) released a Discussion Paper
embodying a draft Child Justice Bill. On the sentencing of child offenders
there is unqualified support for the principle that ‘detention should be a
matter of last resort.’ 21 It also recommended that ‘the sentence of
imprisonment for children below a ce rtain age (14) years be excluded.’
Following the Beijing Rules, in partic ular rule 17 (1) (c) thereof the
committee recommended that imprison ment should only be imposed
20 S v Kwalase at 139c-e.
21 S A Law Commission Report on Juvenile Justice (Project 106) 153 footnote 16.
14
upon children who have been convicted of serious and violent offences. 22
These recommendations have not as ye t been adopted by Parliament and
can have but peripheral value at this stage.
[18] Having regard to s 28 (1) (g) of the Constitution and the relevant
international instruments, as already indicated, it is clear that in every
case involving a juvenile offender, the ambit and scope of sentencing will
have to be widened in order to give effect to the principle that a child
offender is ‘not to be detained except, as a measure of last resort’ and if
detention of a child is unavoidable, th is should be ‘only for the shortest
appropriate period of time’. This of co urse applies to a juvenile offender
who is under the age of 18 years as provided for in s 28 (1) (g) of the
Constitution. Furthermore if the j uvenile concerned is a child as
described, he or she s hould be kept separately from persons over the age
of 18 years and the sentencing court will have to give directions to this
effect, if it considers that the case before it warrants detention. This
follows from s 28 (2) of the Constitu tion which provides that a child’s
best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the
child.
22 Op cit.
15
[19] It must be remembered that the Constitution and the international
instruments do not forbid incarce ration of children in certain
circumstances. All that it requires is that the ‘child be detained only for
the shortest period of time’ and that the child be ‘kept separately from
detained persons over the age of 18 y ears.’ It is not inconceivable that
some of the courts may be confronted with cases which require detention.
It happened in the United Kingdom not so long ago in the case of R v
Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Venables ; R v
Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Thompson 23 where
two boys aged ten were convicted of the murder of a two year old boy in
appalling circumstances. Leaving aside the details relating to the appeal
processes, they were sentenced to ten years.
[20] I turn now to consider the f acts relevant to the sentence of the
accused. The strongest mitigating fact or in favour of the accused is her
youthfulness: she was 12 years and 5 months’ old at the time of the
offence. A second most important fa ctor is that she has no previous
conviction. This is an important f actor because even the Beijing rules
(rule 17 (1) (c)) provide for incarceration of a child who has committed ‘a
serious violent act against another pe rson and or persists in committing
23 [1997] All ER 97.
16
other serious offences’ 24 albeit as a measure of last resort and for the
shortest period of time.
[21] As against the above mitigating factors (to which of course her
personal circumstances must be include d) are the aggrava ting features of
the case which prompted the trial judge to remark that if he were to look
only at the gravity of the offence co mmitted by the accused, there was no
doubt that the imprisonment of the accu sed might be regarded as the only
appropriate punishment. The accused arranged for the brutal murder of
her grandmother at the hands of two strangers who now languish in
prison, each serving sentences of imprisonment of twenty five years. The
killing was particularly gruesome: the deceased had her throat cut in her
bedroom and was slaughtered like an animal. The accused provided the
killers with knives. She stood watchi ng while the killers carried out her
evil command and even callously allowed her 6 year old brother to enter
the room when her sordid mission had been accomplished. Mercifully,
the deceased was unaware of what was happening because the accused
had drugged her by putting sleeping tabl ets in her tea. The murder was
premeditated. One would expect a pe rson of that age to have been
remorseful. Not the accused. While the killers were still in the house after
the murder she telephoned her boyfriend – a twenty year old – to try and
24 Op cit footnote 16.
17
fabricate an alibi. As if that was not bad enough she rewarded the killers
with a number of household goods belonging to the deceased, as
indicated earlier in the judgment. One can go on and on. Every chapter of
this sordid tale reveals the evil mindedness of the accused. One of the
more worrying aspects of the case is that no motive was given for the
killing, which makes it imperative for th is court to consider a sentence
that would to some extent ensure th at those who come into contact with
her are protected.
[22] Although Swain J gave anxious consideration to the matter, I agree
with counsel for the state that he fa iled to have sufficient regard to the
gravity of the offence. The postponement of the passing of sentence even
when coupled with correctional supervision was, in my view,
inappropriate in the circumstances a nd leaves one with a sense of shock
and a feeling that justice was not done . Even in the case of a juvenile as
already indicated the sentence imposed must be in proportion to the
gravity of the offence. If this case does not call for imprisonment of a
child, I cannot conceive of one that will. Admittedly in his judgment the
learned judge did allude to the princi ple of proportionality but, I believe,
he failed to give due and sufficient wei ght to it, and this court is therefore
at large to interfere and impose what it considers to be an appropriate
18
sentence. In Brandt25 and Kwalase26 the court reiterated that
proportionality in sentencing juve nile offenders wa s required by the
Constitution. Of course proportionality in sentencing is not meant to be in
the sense of an ‘eye for an eye’ as was cautioned by Harms AJA in a
dissenting judgment in S v Mafu 27 where he noted that proportionality
does not imply that punishment be equal in kind to the harm that the
offender has caused.
[23] If I had been a judge of firs t instance I would have seriously
considered imposing a sentence of imprisonment. The court below was
very concerned about the accused’s re integration into society should she
be sent to prison. It is a valid concern but the fact that she could not study
what she wishes and that the schoolin g facilities are not ideal, are in my
view factors of limited value. The present case is, however, far from
simple. We know that the Departme nt of Correctional Services, in
detaining children, does not comply with either the Constitution or the
provisions of its Act. There is also no indication that, in this case, it
would. There appears to be a general unwillingness to accept the fact that
there are children that have to be de tained in prison-like facilities, and
there are none for their purposes. All the other detention options are as
25 At para 19.
26 At 139f.
27 1992 (2) SACR 494 (A) at 497d.
19
bad or non-existent. The court below wa s told that there is some kind of
provincial facility in the Western Cape but it will not accept children
from other provinces unless those are pr epared to pay, which the relevant
province apparently cannot or will not.
[24] Although prison conditions are generally not a matter with which a
sentencing court should concern itself – since it is a matter for the
government, the Ministry of Correctional Services and the Prison
authorities to rectify – and although it is not for the sentencing court to
first undertake an investigation as to whether there is accommodation
available in prison for a juvenile offender each time it considers passing a
custodial sentence, we cannot close our eyes to the facts as we know
them.
[25] In spite of my re servations about the duty of a sentencing court to
investigate prison conditions and the like, I have to refer to the fact that
the witnesses from Correctional Servic es misled the court below. When
correctional supervision was introduced, courts embraced it
enthusiastically as a real sentenci ng option, something that will have a
substantial effect on the prison popul ation in this country. As time went
on courts became more sceptical but I am now completely disillusioned.
We asked for a report from Correctional Services to determine the nature
20
and scope of their supe rvision since the judge had requested that the
accused should be visited at least four times per week at irregular
intervals. Without proper supervisio n house arrest has no value. The
affidavit indicates that although the accused was sentenced on 17
December 2004, there were no visits du ring the festive season, in January
there were 9, in February 3, in March 2, then one per month and,
suddenly when the appeal was enrolle d, there were 6 during October.
Although a telephone had been inst alled, there were six telephone
contacts in all. More disturbing is the fact that the visits and contacts were
all during office hours, leaving the a ccused free to do what she wishes
after hours and during week-ends. We ha ve invited counsel for the state
to provide us with proposals of how to make the house arrest effective,
but they have failed to file any suggestions. However, one cannot fault
the trial judge for having imposed this sentence, carefully crafted as he
did, and it has to stand subject to minor amendments that speak for
themselves.
[26] It is the postponement of sentence that has to be reconsidered. It is
too late to impose a sentence of direct imprisonment but the interests of
justice will be served by imposing a term of imprisonment but suspending
it on certain conditions, which if breached might result in the accused
having to serve time in prison. In th is way, I believe, recognition will be
21
given to the interests of society in the sense that it would be protected
against her, and she against society, which might wish to seek revenge.
[27] Since the state was substantia lly successful, the accused is not
entitled to an award of costs.
[28] In the result the appeal is allowed. The sentence imposed by the
trial court is replaced with the following:
‘The accused is sentenced to:
1. Seven years’ imprisonment, the whole of which is suspended for 5
years on condition that the accused is not again convicted of an
offence of which violence is an element, committed during the
period of suspension and for which she is sentenced to a term of
imprisonment without the option of a fine.
2. Thirty-six months of correctiona l supervision in terms of section
276(1)(h) of the Criminal Pro cedure Act on the following
conditions:
(a) that she be placed under house arrest, in the care and
custody of her mother and legal guardian for the
duration of thirty-six months, on the conditions set out
below;
22
(b) that she be confined to th e flat occupied by her mother
save and except in the following circumstances:
(i) that she attend school during ‘normal school
hours’. For these purposes ‘normal school
hours’ means one (1) hour prior to the
commencement of school and one (1) hour after
the conclusion of school , for the purpose of
travelling to and from school;
(ii) that she attend offi cial school activities falling
outside of ‘normal school hours’ as sanctioned
by the principal of the school;
(iii) that she attend the NICRO program known as
‘Journey’, other life skills training and
therapeutic courses, activities or counselling as
prescribed by Mrs Joan van Niekerk and/or the
correctional officer;
(iv) that she receive medical and/or dental treatment
as determined by a medical doctor or dentist;
(v) that she be in the building of which the flat
forms a part, but outside the confines of the flat
itself for one hour be tween 16:00 and 17:00
during school term, and for two (2) hours in
23
total respectively betw een 10:00 and 11:00 and
between 15:00 and 16:00 during school
holidays;
(c) that she receive regular support therapy from Mrs Joan
van Niekerk, or any other suitable professional
designated by her, and that she co-operate fully in
receiving such therapy;
(d) that she render one hundre d and twenty (120) hours
per year of community service, as approved by Mrs
Joan van Niekerk and the correctional officer, in
addition to her school curri culum activities, when she
attains fifteen (15) years of age;
(e) that she be permitted vis itors at the flat where she
lives, as approved by the accused’s mother and Mrs
Joan van Niekerk, only in the presence of her mother;
(f) Mrs Joan van Niekerk or the correctional officer are
requested to submit quarterly reports to the Director of
Public Prosecutions, briefly setting out the progress
being made by the accused and the general
compliance by the accused with the terms of this
order;
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(g) that correctional officer is ordered to visit the flat
where the accused will be living at least four times per
month, including weekends and after office hours, at
irregular intervals to ensure compliance by the
accused with the terms of her confinement. The
correctional officer is also ordered to telephone the
accused, once a telephone has been installed in the
flat, at irregular intervals and after hours to ensure
compliance by the accused;
(h) the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Joan van
Niekerk and/or the correctional officer, are given
leave to approach this Court at any time, for a
variation of the terms of this order;
(i) In the event of any breach by the accused of any of
these conditions, the correctiona l officer is directed to
immediately report such breach on affidavit to the
Director of Public Prosecutions who may then apply
for the necessary relief.’
__________________
KK MTHIYANE
JUDGE OF APPEAL
25
CONCUR:
HARMS JA
STREICHER JA
COMBRINCK AJA
NKABINDE AJA