The appellant was convicted in the Fort Beaufort Regional Court of the murder of Dumisani Mpapu, whom he shot in the early hours of 30 June 2002. The deceased was shot in the head at very close range and died three days later from the gunshot wound. The appellant admitted firing the fatal shot but pleaded not guilty, claiming that he acted in private defence after finding the deceased stealing his fowls inside his yard and allegedly charging at him. A state eyewitness, Mzwabantu Mpapu (the deceased’s cousin), testified that the shooting occurred in a public street outside the appellant’s yard, without provocation. Medical and circumstantial evidence supported the State’s version. The appellant was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, the court finding substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
The appeal against both conviction and sentence was dismissed.
The case reaffirms the South African approach to evaluating criminal evidence by assessing the totality of the evidence rather than considering the State’s and defence versions in isolation. It illustrates the application of the test that an accused’s version must be rejected only if it is not reasonably possibly true, and confirms the deference appellate courts afford to trial courts’ credibility and factual findings absent misdirection.