NGCOBO J NGCOBO J: Introduction [1] Until recently, the law did not pay much attention to the stress that child complainants in sexual offence cases suffer when they testify in courts.1 Child complainants in sexual offence cases were required to relive the horror of the crime in open court. The circumstances under which they gave evidence and the mental stress or suffering they went through while giving evidence did not appear to be the concern of the law. And, at times, they were subjected to the most brutal and humiliating treatment by being asked to relate the sordid details of the traumatic experiences that they had gone through. Regrettably, although there were welcome exceptions, the plight of child complainants was seldom the concern of those who required them to testify or those before whom they testified. [2] The advent of our constitutional democracy must change all of that. Our constitutional democracy seeks to transform our legal system. Its foundational values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, introduce a new ethos that should permeate our legal system. Consistently with these values, section 28(2) of the Constitution requires that in all matters concerning a child, the child’s best interests must be of paramount importance.2 Recently, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) 1 In 1991, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 135 of 1991 amended the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 by introducing section 170A which allows children to testify through intermediaries. Section 170A commenced on 30 July 1993. 2 Section 28(2) provides: 2