Jan Oompie Kolea v. The State

The appellant was convicted of repeatedly raping a woman with another man and sentenced to 15 years in prison under s 51(2) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 (the Act). When the appellant appealed the ruling and the sentence it was found that his conviction should in fact be read under s 51(1) of the Act which imposes a minimum sentence of life in prison when the victim was raped more than once by more than one person. He was duly sentenced to life in prison and his appeal was dismissed. This case broke a previous trend of judges neglecting to impose life sentences under s 51(1), instead giving lighter sentences under s 51(2) even in the case of multiple rapes. The real threat of life imprisonment is a crucial precedent to set in South Africa, where rape is common and often overlooked or punished with leniency.

Mnr. Kolea is skuldig bevind dat hy herhaaldelik 'n vrou met 'n ander man verkrag het en vir 15 jaar in die tronk onder s 51(2) van die Wet op Strafreg 105 van 1997 (die Wet) gevonnis is. Toe Mnr. Kolea die beslissing en die vonnis appelleer is daar bevind dat sy skuldigbevinding in werklikheid gelees moet word onder s 51(1) van die Wet wat 'n minimum vonnis van die lewenslange tronkstraf opgelê het toe die slagoffer meer as een keer verkrag is deur meer as een persoon. Kolea is behoorlik gevonnis tot lewenslange tronkstraf en sy appèl is geweier. Hierdie saak het 'n vorige tendens van regters gebreek om lewenslange vonnisse te verwaarloos onder s 51 (1), en in plaas daarvan ligter vonisse onder s 51 (2) te gee, selfs in die geval van meervoudige verkragtings. Die werklike bedreiging van die lewenslange gevangenisstraf is 'n deurslaggewende presedent wat in Suid-Afrika voorgetstel word, waar verkragting algemeen voorkom en dikwels misken word.