3 ORDER On appeal from: Western Cape High Court (per Blignault J, Fortuin J and Mantame AJ concurring, sitting on appeal from a regional magistrate): 1 The appeal is upheld. 2 The order of the high court is set aside and replaced by the following order: ‘The appeal succeeds and the order of the magistrate is altered to one dismissing the objection to the charge.’ JUDGMENT WALLIS JA (MPATI P and NAVSA, BRAND and MALAN JJA concurring) [1] No judicial officer sitting in South Africa today is unaware of the extent of sexual violence in this country and the way in which it deprives so many women and children of their right to dignity and bodily integrity and, in the case of children, the right to be children; to grow up in innocence and, as they grow older, to awaken to the maturity and joy of full humanity. The rights to dignity and bodily integrity are fundamental to our humanity and should be respected for that reason alone. It is a sad reflection on our world, and societies such as our own, that women and children have been abused and that such abuse continues, so that their