S v X

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Court: Appellate Division
• Judge: Beadle CJ, Macdonald JP and Lewis JA
• Judgment Date: 26 September 1973
• Citation: 1974 (1) SA 344 (RA)
• Hearing Date: 26 September 1973

Beadle, C.J.:

Mr. Colegrave, who appears for the State in this appeal, made the following application in regard to the proceedings in this Court, namely -

That the Press or other news media do not publish any information of any nature tending to reveal any of the following matters:

1.

The identity of the appellant and other persons mentioned in the proceedings, apart from the police witnesses.

Beadle CJ

2.

The name of any unlawful organisation that may be mentioned during the course of this hearing.

3.

Any dates that may be mentioned during the course of the hearing, except in so far as counts 1 and 2 are concerned, that the alleged offences occurred in April A of this year, and in so far as count 3 is concerned, that they occurred over a period of time extending from November, 1972, to April of this year.

4.

The location of any places mentioned during the course of the hearing, other than that they occurred in the Centenary area of Rhodesia.

B As the application is not opposed by counsel by counsel who appears for the appellant, the application is granted.

The appellant in this case was convicted in the General Division of the High Court on three counts. On count 1 he was convicted of an act of terrorism or sabotage, in contravention of para. (b) of sub-sec. (1) of sec. 48A of the Law and Order C (Maintenance) Act, Chap. 39, the act of sabotage consisting of the breaking into and setting on fire of an African store. On count 2 he was convicted of the common law crime of murder. And on count 3 he was convicted of possessing arms of war, in contravention of sub-sec. (1) of sec. 36 of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, the arms of war being two A.K. rifles, one F.L. grenade, five A.K. magazines, one rocket launcher, four D rocket projectiles, two rocket propellants and a quantity of rifle ammuntion.

On the first count, to which he pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment with hard labour. On the second count, to which he pleaded not guilty - that was the murder count - he was sentenced to death. And on the third E count, to which he pleaded guilty, he was also sentenced to death.

The appellant now appeals against the death sentence imposed on the second and third counts. He does not appeal against conviction.

Mr. Thompson, who appeared for him, argued that the conviction on the murder count of which he was convicted should have been F found to have been committed in circumstances of extenuation, and the appropriate sentence should have been one of life imprisonment, and he argued that the third charge did not warrant the death sentence in the circumstances.

The broad facts of the case are these. The appellant was a domestic servant. He had lived in the urban areas of the G country since a small boy of twelve years old and he was not therefore particularly familiar with the bush country in the remoter parts of Rhodesia. In October, 1972, he was staying with his father in his father's kraal in the Dande area, and it would appear that this kraal is not far from the boundary H between the north-eastern border of Rhodesia and Mozambique. In about mid-October in the middle of the night one J., accompanied by two terrorists woke him up and compelled him to come with them to a terrorist camp at a place called Chamboko which is just across the border of Rhodesia with Mozambique. He was in effect, to use a colloquial expression, shanghaied and taken forcibly away from his kraal. He was not even permitted to say good-bye to his father. When he arrived at Chamboko, which was apparently a terrorist camp occupied

Beadle CJ

jointly by ZANU and Frelimo...