The appellant, a constable in the South African Police Service Stock Theft Unit, was convicted in the Vryburg Regional Court of corruption under s 4(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 for corruptly selling a stray cow for R3 000 in January 2012, and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. During the trial, while released on warning, he failed to appear in court on two occasions (8 October 2015 and 18 April 2016). He relied on medical evidence indicating psychiatric illness, including major depressive disorder and psychosis, to explain his absence. The regional court found his failures to appear wilful, convicted him on two counts of contravening s 72(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, and imposed fines of R200 000 on each count. His applications for leave to appeal were refused by both the regional court and, on petition under s 309C of the CPA, by the North West Division of the High Court. He then obtained special leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal against the refusal of leave.
The appeal was upheld. The order of the High Court refusing leave to appeal was set aside and replaced with an order granting the appellant leave to appeal to the full court of the North West Division of the High Court against his convictions and sentences for contraventions of s 72 of the CPA and against the sentence imposed for corruption under s 4 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
The case reaffirms the approach to petitions for leave to appeal under s 309C of the Criminal Procedure Act and clarifies that the test is whether there are reasonable prospects of success, not whether the appeal will ultimately succeed. It underscores the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of s 72 of the CPA in S v Singo and highlights the duty of appellate courts to grant leave where medical or other evidence may reasonably negate fault for failure to appear.