Sipho Sianeth Lawrence Matshona v The State

The appellant was charged in the regional court, Pretoria, with 45 counts of fraud arising from his abuse of a position of trust as a branch manager of a national retail chain. He pleaded guilty to 37 counts, which were taken together for purposes of sentence, and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. His application for leave to appeal against sentence to the High Court under s 309B of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 was refused, as was his subsequent petition under s 309C. A further application for leave to appeal against the refusal of the petition was also dismissed. With leave of the Supreme Court of Appeal, he appealed against the High Court’s refusal to grant leave to appeal.

The appeal was upheld. The High Court’s order refusing leave to appeal was set aside and replaced with an order granting the appellant leave to appeal to the High Court (Pretoria) against the sentence imposed by the regional court.

The case clarifies the jurisdictional limits of the Supreme Court of Appeal in criminal matters originating from magistrates’ courts and reaffirms the hierarchical structure of appeals. It confirms that the SCA may only consider whether leave to appeal should have been granted by the High Court, not the merits of the sentence itself, and reiterates the correct test for granting leave to appeal. The judgment also disapproved of contrary reasoning in S v Nel 2007 (2) SACR 481 (SCA).