5
transport in winter. The appellant then offered to take the complainant to school even
when the mother would not be paying. He denied that he had lent the television set
to the complainant specifically. According to him he allowed the complainant’s family
to use it together with a wardrobe and a coal stove which were in the house that they
were renting from his in-laws. He explained that his visit to the complainant’s home
in the mother’s absence was to inspect the house for maintenance purposes as he
had always done, on behalf of his ‘in-laws’.
[10]
Mr Clifford Moepeng testified that in 2006 he used to share transport to and
from school with the complainant. According to him the appellant’s routine when
fetching the children was always to fetch two other children first, P and M, from
Rooiwal, then himself, and only thereafter, the complainant, then they would proceed
to school. The State also led the evidence of police officer Mr Ernest Monname who
recorded the complainant’s police statement. Mr Monname testified in relation to the
spot or place where the sexual intercourse took place in the appellant’s van. His
evidence was that the complainant had told him this took place on the front seat of
the van.
[11]
In convicting the appellant the magistrate acknowledged the discrepancies in
the evidence tendered by the State, particularly the contradictions in the evidence of
the complainant, her mother and Dr Gunaselva. But he was satisfied that the
evidence led constituted proof beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant had had
sexual intercourse with the complainant.
[12]
Before I consider the specific grounds on which the appeal is brought it is
necessary to clarify the issues on appeal as I see them. Although, in the court a quo
all the material elements of the charge against the appellant had to be proved, it
does not appear that the evidence that the complainant had been sexually
penetrated was in serious dispute. When Dr Gunaselva started giving evidence he
was led by the prosecutor on the injuries and resultant scars on the complainant’s
private parts. The doctor had observed five scars on the complainant’s genitalia. He
had also observed and recorded in the medico legal report (J88) that the
complainant’s hymen was not intact. His conclusion, as recorded in the J88, was that
the scars were ‘compatible with remote sexual penetration’.