Patlakwe's hour of reckoning at hand

ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer | Friday May 15, 2009 00:00

 

He is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at Lamila Lodge, in Mogoditshane, in June last year after giving her a lift from Mmakgodi. Village Magistrate, Olivia Zvide will deliver judgement on Patlakwe's case, which was postponed last month.

Making his final submission before the postponement, defence attorney Basimane Bogopa called on the court to throw out the case, saying that the complainant was not a credible or reliable witness.

Bogopa said the court did not even need to go beyond her own testimony because it was full of inanities.

'Even if there could exist corroboration, which in this case does not exist in the testimony of other witnesses, the law requires this court to acquit the accused,' Bogopa submitted.

He asserted that the medical evidence was not conclusive and the medical doctor, who did the examination, was not called to explain her report.

Instead a different doctor explained the report.

'It should be emphasised that the report made certain suggestions which cannot be explained by anyone else except the doctor who examined the complainant and made the report,' Bogopa said.

He asserted that in the medical report, admitted into evidence by the court, the doctor expressed an opinion that 'rape cannot be ruled out'.

'In the absence of detailed reasons which would define clearly the basis of the view that the rape cannot be ruled out, it would be dangerous to give more weight to the medical report,' he said.

Another public figure waiting with bated breath for this day is former Local Government and Lands permanent secretary Elvidge Mhlauli.

High Court Judge Justice Key Dingake is expected to make a ruling on Mhlauli, who is appealing his conviction and sentence by Village Chief Magistrate, Lot Moroka in 2007.
Mhlauli has appealed against his seven-year jail term for corruption.