The appellant, Kholile Jackson Tofa, was convicted in the Bloemfontein Regional Court of raping the complainant, Ms Nomsa Christonia Baadjie, and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. The parties lived in the same street and knew each other; the complainant sometimes bought liquor from the appellant’s shebeen. On the night in question, sexual intercourse occurred at the appellant’s house. The complainant alleged that the appellant forcibly pulled her into a bedroom and raped her. Immediately thereafter she reported the incident to her mother and then to the police, and underwent a medical examination which noted a superficial abrasion consistent with penetration. The appellant claimed the intercourse was consensual and arose from a long-standing clandestine relationship, and further alleged that the rape charge was fabricated as part of a conspiracy. His conviction was upheld on appeal in the High Court. Before the Supreme Court of Appeal, he appealed against the conviction and applied to adduce further evidence, relying on an alleged affidavit in which the complainant supposedly recanted her testimony.