Our 'gravest injustice' yet against women?

In 'an affront to human dignity' the magistrate sentenced a man who raped a fellow (junior) employee and beat her unconscious to a five-year wholly suspended sentence for the rape and a R2 000 fine or 12 months imprisonment for attempted murder, reports Legalbrief. The horrors of the rape and beatings came to the attention of Snyman when the victim brought a discrimination founded on sexual harassment case against her employer. Although ruling against the applicant in the discrimination matter, Snyman took the unusual step of ordering his judgment condemning the presiding magistrate in the criminal matter to be sent to the Magistrates' Commission, the NPA, and the Director-General of the Department of Justice and Correctional Services 'for investigation of the conduct of the magistrate'. He also instructed that the judgment be sent to the Women's Legal Centre 'to possibly assist the applicant going forward'.

In the case at hand, the victim, a chef, was raped and beaten by her former boyfriend, William Mtshali. She testified to the attack in some detail in the Labour Court. After raping her at their place of employment, Mtshali 'clearly appreciated the wrong of what he had done', says the judge. He told the applicant he did not want to go to jail, and said he was going to kill her. He forced her into a vehicle and drove her away. The judgment describes what followed: 'At some point, Mtshali stopped the vehicle and the applicant jumped out and tried to run away. Mtshali, however, caught up with her and severely assaulted her, using a rock, a lid of a pot, and then his fists. The applicant stated that in the course of this assault, she became unconscious, and when she came to, she found herself in the trunk of the vehicle which was then again moving. The applicant started screaming whilst in the trunk and Mtshali stopped. He said to the applicant he did not know what to do with her. He, however, ended up hitting her again with his fists and then proceeded to rape her again. Following this second rape, Mtshali then said he was going to take the applicant to a place in Rustenburg. The applicant pleaded with him to first take her home so she could clean herself, and he agreed.' The judge noted: 'I am of the view that the sentence imposed on Mtshali is an affront to the human dignity and bodily and psychological integrity of the applicant, considering what he did to her.' The incident happened on 4 December 2012. Moatshe v Legend Golf and Safari Resort Operations (Pty)Ltd (JS 266 / 2012)