NGCOBO J (d) Is the subsection unconstitutional to the extent that it gives discretion to the judicial officer whether or not to appoint an intermediary? The object of section 170A(1) [93] The subsection was introduced into the CPA by the Criminal Law Amendment Act.93 It was subsequently amended by the Sexual Offences Amendment Act which inserted the words “biological or mental” before the words “age of eighteen years.” The CPA and the Sexual Offences Amendment Act must therefore be read together in order to ascertain the object of section 170A(1). [94] As section 170A(1) makes plain, it is aimed at preventing a child from undergoing “undue mental stress or suffering” while giving evidence. It does this by permitting the child to testify through an intermediary. The intermediary is required to convey the general purport of questions put to the child.94 This is crucial to enable the child to understand the questions. More importantly, section 170A(3) allows the child who testifies through an intermediary to give evidence in a separate room away from the accused and in an atmosphere that is designed to set the child at ease. At the same time, this provision ensures that the court and the accused are able to see and hear the child and the intermediary through the medium of electronic or other devices. [95] The subsection was no doubt enacted to protect child complainants in sexual offence cases and other child witnesses from undergoing undue mental stress or 93 Act 135 of 1991. 94 Section 170A(2)(b) of the CPA. 50