23 Mar 2021

Member of Parliament for Nata/Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga has been acquitted and discharged from a charge of having sexual intercourse with a minor of Malelejwe.

Presenting judgement on the case in which the accused was charged with defilement contrary to Section 147 (1) of the Penal Code as amended by Section 13 on Monday, Nata principal magistrate, Ms Keabetswe Majuta said the court found the accused not guilty of the offence.

She said the state had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the complainant was under the age of 18 years, and that there was none consensual sexual intercourse between her and the accused. 

Ms Majuta added that in sexual offences there was a fundamental principle of shielding against false incrimination, adding that victims of sexual offences must be first found to be credible before seeking corroboration of their evidence. 

The magistrate said there was a danger of incriminating and that before a trial court could safely convict on testimony of such a witness, it must satisfy itself that the danger had been excluded. 

Furthermore, magistrate Majuta stated that it was imperative that a credibility assessment be conducted on the complainant, saying as soon as the complainant failed the test, the inquiry into the matter ended. 

She said it was only after the complainant had passed the credibility test that consideration could be given whether there was corroborative evidence. She added that the court would caution itself to exclude all possibilities of false incrimination. 

Ms Majuta said the court found that the complainant did not tell the truth about her numerous visits to the accused at one Ms Tshimologo Ntekang’s house, as she failed to elaborate on the days of such visits. 

She said the complainant had said her first sexual encounter happened at the said house while Ms Ntekang was not present. She said it did not collaborate as the accused only visited twice in October and December 2019 as it came out through cross examination. 

 She also said it would be incorrect to say that the accused spent a night at the said house almost every week as articulated by the complainant. 

She added that if the complainant was capable of fabricating evidence that she visited the accused several times at Ms Ntekang’s house, and that her first sexual encounter with the accused was at the place, that could also be her fabrication. 

In addition, the magistrate said the complainant’s evidence was that she quit school in 2019 because the accused had promised to take care of her and get her a job. 

During cross examination, it came out that the complainant had quit school in 2018 before meeting the accused, and that it was the evidence of her father and mother who cited different reasons why she quit school. 

 Furthermore, Ms Majuta said the state, through the complainant, had said that her sexual intercourse with the accused resulted with a baby born on 5 July 2020.

She said the paternity results proved otherwise and that they cleared the accused of not being the biological father of the baby. 

 The magistrate further said the complainant had said she communicated with the accused through her mother’s phone, and that the defence submitted that the state should have brought the alleged love messages between the parties to court to corroborate the complainant’s story. 

Magistrate Majuta concluded that the complainant had failed the credibility test and that the accused was thus acquitted and discharged. ends