Sinethemba Ntlanyeni v The State

The appellant, Sinethemba Ntlanyeni, together with two co-accused, was tried in the Eastern Cape High Court, Port Elizabeth, on charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and two counts of rape. The appellant and the second accused were convicted only of kidnapping and the two counts of rape and sentenced to an effective 22 years’ imprisonment. Leave to appeal was refused by the trial court. While the appellant’s co-accused were subsequently granted leave to appeal by the Supreme Court of Appeal, the appellant’s own application for leave to appeal was dismissed in September 2014. Due to an administrative error, the appellant was wrongly advised that leave to appeal had been granted and only discovered the refusal much later. Within days of learning of the error, he applied under s 17(2)(f) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013 for reconsideration of the refusal, although this occurred almost ten months after the original decision.

Leave to appeal was granted to the appellant to appeal to the full bench of the Eastern Cape High Court, Grahamstown, against his conviction.

The case clarifies the scope of s 17(2)(f) of the Superior Courts Act by confirming that the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s mero motu power to refer a decision for reconsideration is not time-bound. It underscores the importance of fairness in appellate procedure, particularly where administrative errors and inconsistent treatment of co-accused may prejudice an accused person.