4 in arriving at a conclusion. In addition, notice of the proceedings was given to the amici curiae in Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie; Lesbian and Gay Equality Project v Minister of Home Affairs 2006 (1) SA 524 (CC), namely Doctors for Life International, its legal representative (Mr JJ Smyth QC) in his personal capacity and the Marriage Alliance of South Africa, as well as to the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project. The Minister subsequently intervened in this appeal and heads of argument dealing with the constitutional points were filed on her behalf, as also on behalf of both parties. Appeal against convictions on counts 1-4 [5] According to the charge sheet, read together with the two sets of further particulars supplied by the State in terms of s 87 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, the dates on which and the places where the relevant different acts in respect of the four charges were allegedly committed were as follows: Count 1 – during January to April 1998, in an Elwierda tour bus at the Eastgate Airport, approximately 7 kilometres outside Hoedspruit, Mphumalanga; count 2 – during January to April 1998, in a room at the Casa Da Sol Hotel in Mphumalanga; count 3 – also during January to April 1998, in the appellant’s car in the parking lot of the Corpus Christi Church in Elardus Park, Pretoria; count 4 – during October to November 1998, in the complainant’s bedroom at his family home in Mirage Street, Elardus Park, Pretoria. As the complainant was born on 29 June 1983, he was 14 years old at the time of the acts allegedly committed in respect of the first three counts and 15 years old in respect of the act forming the basis of the fourth count. According to the charge sheet for each of the four counts, the appellant had indecently assaulted the complainant by masturbating him and enticing him to masturbate the appellant. [6] It was common cause that, during 1997, the appellant – a qualified dentist who had been suspended from practice for three years (commencing in 1996) as a result of his conviction in 1991 on four counts of ‘indecency’ involving children – was employed by Elwierda, a tour bus company, as one of its drivers. In approximately July 1997, the complainant’s mother (Mrs B) met the appellant while she was travelling on an evangelical tour, in an Elwierda bus, to Mozambique. After that, he became close friends with the family, often visiting their home. According to the