Recent Case: Evidence
| Jurisdiction | South Africa |
| Citation | (2004) 17 SACJ 439 |
| Pages | 439-443 |
| Date | 24 May 2019 |
| Published date | 24 May 2019 |
| Author | Nicci Whitear-Nel |
Recent cases
439
Evidence
NICCI WHITEAR-NEL
University of KwaZulu
-
Natal
Admissibility of document
The Supreme Court of Appeal in the case of
S v Adendorff
(SCA) dismissed the appellants appeal, notwithstanding having upheld
various points raised by the appellant. The court did this by keeping its eye
on the overall standard of proof, and a conspectus of the evidence.
The appellant was convicted by a regional magistrate of theft of a motor
vehicle. His appeal to the High Court against conviction and sentence was
dismissed. However, he was granted leave to appeal against his conviction
only in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The appellant's case was based on the assertion that certain documents on
which the court had relied had been improperly admitted into evidence, and
that the court had also relied on the appellant's admissions concerning the
source of one of the documents which he was not competent to make, as the
information in respect of which he made the admission did not fall within his
personal knowledge.
The Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed that a copy of a receipt on which
the investigating officer had made certain annotations was secondary
evidence which was inadmissible to prove the contents of the original in
the absence of an explanation to the effect that the original document was
lost or had been destroyed. The investigating officer was not called to give
evidence — however, the court added that at best the document could have
been admitted to refresh the memory of the investigating officer, had he been
called.
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that an admission can be properly
made and admitted into evidence notwithstanding that the information
admitted does not fall within the personal knowledge of the admitter.
However, the overall weight afforded to the evidence would depend on an
(2004) 17 SACJ 439
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