Recent Case: General principles of criminal law
Author | Hoctor, S. |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v35/i2a5 |
Published date | 03 October 2022 |
Date | 03 October 2022 |
Citation | (2022) 35 SACJ 222 |
Pages | 222-233 |
General principles of criminal law
SHANNON HOCTOR
Stellenbosch University
1 Common purpose, compulsion (necessity) and ‘planned
or premeditated’ murder – S v Ntshaba 2022 JDR 0279
(ECG)
1.1 Facts and judgment
The case of S v Ntshaba 2022 JDR 0279 (ECG) concerned the killing
of the deceased, following a drink ing spree of the workers on the
farm of one Bezuidenhout. Being a teetotal ler, the deceased had not
partaken of any alcohol himself, but all th ree accused had done so.
The apparent motive for killing the deceased was th at the accused
were concerned that the deceased would report their imbibing to
their employer Bezuidenhout, who abhorred alcohol (at para [1]).
Theaccused therefore proceeded to the deceased’s home after he had
left the gathering, and attacked him, pinning him to the ground and
slitting his throat. T heir intoxication was not of such a nature as to
negate their capacity or intention (at para [14] in respect of accused
Ntshaba and Kwakwa; it does not appear that any intoxication-related
defence was raised in respect of accused Faniso), although the court
held that the intoxication did give rise to ‘an alcohol-inspired irrational
attempt to avoid workplace strife by killing the deceased’ (at para [25]),
which militated against nding that the murder was ‘planned or
premeditated’.
The accused were charged with planned and/or premeditated
murder, on the basis of acting with a common purpose to un lawfully
and intentionally kill t he deceased (at para [2]). As far as the respective
roles of the accused were concerned in this gri m scenario, accused
Ntshaba slit the deceased’s throat while accused Kwakwa assisted in
tripping the deceased and holding his lower body on the ground (at
para [2]). Both these accused readily admitted t heir liability (at para [14]).
The third accused, Faniso, was identied by the other accused as
having associated herself with the plan as soon as it was hatched, and
having participated by holding a pair of shorts over the deceased’s
RECENT CASES
https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v35/i2a5
222
(2022) 35 SACJ 222
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