The appellant, Selwyn Davids, was accused 3 in a regional court trial arising from a robbery and fatal stabbing of Mario Meyer at a parking area along Baden Powell Drive, Muizenberg, on the night of 30 March 2007. Meyer and his friends were confronted by assailants who attempted to rob them of their vehicle and personal belongings. During the struggle, Meyer was stabbed and killed, and his Toyota vehicle was stolen. The State alleged that three persons were involved, including the appellant. The appellant was convicted of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances and sentenced to an effective 25 years’ imprisonment. His conviction rested largely, if not exclusively, on the evidence of a co-accused (accused 1), an admitted accomplice. Two eyewitnesses testified, but neither identified the appellant, and their evidence suggested only two assailants. Certain circumstantial evidence, including the later discovery of stolen property on the appellant’s premises, was relied upon by the State. The appellant denied involvement but was an unsatisfactory witness. His appeal to the Western Cape High Court failed, but leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal was granted.
The appeal succeeded. The order of the Western Cape High Court was set aside and replaced with an order upholding the appeal and setting aside the appellant’s convictions and sentences for murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The case reaffirms the strict application of the cautionary rule in respect of accomplice evidence in South African criminal law. It underscores that a conviction cannot be sustained where accomplice testimony is unreliable, uncorroborated, and contradicted by other State evidence, even where the accused is an unsatisfactory witness. The judgment also reinforces the principle that proof beyond reasonable doubt requires more than strong suspicion.