Prosecutor Solly Ledallo spoke in court where the National Prosecuting Authority was opposing the application to send him to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital for observation. He said the family was only trying to influence the man’s criminal case.
“We are opposing this application because one of the strategies used by suspects to avoid being prosecuted is faking mental instability. This application could see him sent to the Pretoria hospital for 30 days for observation. We are well aware that suspects often go to Weskoppies and then act as if as if they are not mentally stable to avoid facing the consequences for their actions,” Ledallo argued.
The 45-year-old accused was arrested in November and his first appearance attracted protest action from angry EFF and ANC members.
This was after he allegedly first held the woman against her will in a room on October 23 before forcing her to perform a sexual act on him and then raping her. He then instructed her to have sex with the family pets, the charge sheet stated. He was charged with 10 counts which include, rape, sexual assault, kidnapping and malicious damage to property. However, these could be scrapped should he be declared mentally unstable.
Investigating officer Moses Mabena told the court that he charged the accused and he did not appear mentally challenged.
“In my 18 years as a police officer I can say I did not experience any problems with the accused except taking his fingerprints; his fingers are deformed. There was also no communication breakdown,” Mabena said.
The accused was able to give his personal details and make a statement like a normal person.
Mabena said the accused provided the police with his accurate personal details, home address and information about his previous legal history, telling him he had been sentenced for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2004, later confirmed to be true. “It is for these reasons I do not believe the accused to be mentally unstable,” he said.
The defence’s argument was that it was possible the accused could have suffered from a lucid interval - a temporary improvement in his mental condition, and that could explain why he was able to communicate with the police like a sane person.
That was why they wanted him sent for observation.
However, the State said he had already been taken to a psychiatric doctor, who, after observing him, wrote a professional medical report which stated he was not insane.
Magistrate France Tsatsi postponed the case to February 15 for the doctor to give testimony about the man’s mental state.
The criminal case against the Riamar Park suspect has been before magistrate Ignatius du Preez, who has said he faced a life sentence should he be found guilty.
Tshwane SPCA inspector Andrew Kekana said they had confiscated the two dogs involved in the incident, as the law permitted. The family had nine dogs.
Kekana told the Pretoria News the SPCA was also considering laying charges of bestiality.
Bronkhorstspruit EFF leaders Moafrika Mabogwana and Lefagahlele Matji said the party would continue mobilising its members to support all victims of racially-motivated crimes in the area.
Mabogwana said: “We are attending a lot of cases in this very same court, whereby the offences were racially motivated. We think it is because Bronkhorstspruit is still predominantly a farming area and a lot of transformation has not taken place here. In a lot of cases you find that black people are the victims and white people are the accused. In the past, black people gave up on the cases and their assailants got away with crimes. That’s why we are here to say those days are over.”
The case resumes on February 5.
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