8 that year, but he could not remember another such occasion. The complainant also acknowledged that he might have spent a night at the appellant’s flat some time during 2002, when he went to meet the appellant’s parents there. On this occasion, which might (or might not) have happened in 2002 (the complainant could not remember the year of the visit), he slept in the sitting room of the appellant’s flat, without anything untoward occurring. [15] Although the complainant felt unable to tell his parents about what was happening between the appellant and himself, he did tell his best friend, J, in April 1998, about the incidents of mutual masturbation that had taken place up to that time. He asked J not to tell his (the complainant’s) parents because he did not know how they would react. That much was confirmed by J, who was also called by the State as a witness. The complainant also testified that, after he had told J about what was happening between himself and the appellant, he also told approximately seven of his girl friends about it during the period May 1998 to the end of 1999, and about another eight of his girl friends after he had started his studies at the Technikon in 2002. He recalled that, while he was still at school, he had told J’s twin sister and a girl called N, and later, one of his Technikon friends. He could not remember the names of the other girls whom he had told about the incidents. He reiterated that he found it much easier to talk to his friends about these matters than to his parents and that, although several of his friends had encouraged him to tell his parents, he had not done so because he was scared how they might react. [16] The complainant told no one in his family about the incidents between him and the appellant before January 2003. The B family had spent the December 2002/January 2003 holidays near Wilderness in the Cape. They then celebrated the New Year by spending New Year’s Eve and the first few days of 2003 in Somerset West at the home of Mrs B’s cousin, H, and his partner of 18 years’ standing. When the family returned home by car, the complainant stayed on with H and his partner for a few days, before flying back to Pretoria on 6 January 2003. On the evening before his departure, he had told H, with whom he had developed a good and close relationship, about everything that had happened between himself and the appellant. He testified that he had not specifically chosen this moment to tell them about what he had experienced - ‘it just happened’ and he had felt ready to share this with them.