Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ordered the Eastern Cape High Court to hear an appeal by a man who was convicted and sentenced for murder after it threw out his appeal a few years ago.
Lungisa Grifhs was convicted together with two erstwhile co-accused on November 28, 2018 in the Mthatha Regional Court on one count of murder. He was then sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment.
Grifhs contested the judgement on the grounds that he was convicted on the evidence of a single witness.
The regional court said at the time it found substantial and compelling circumstances that warranted the imposition of a sentence less than the one prescribed in the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
He then approached the high court in Mthatha but his application for leave to appeal against both conviction and sentence was dismissed.
He eventually turned to the SCA so it could determine if there were reasonable prospects of success in the appeal.
He contended that the evidence of the single witness was not reliable, as it was improbable and inconsistent with the admitted statement that the witness had made to the police.
In the ruling delivered Wednesday, the SCA found that there were substantial unexplained contradictions between the witness’ oral testimony and his written statement to the police.
As a result, the SCA upheld the appeal on the basis that there were reasonable prospects of success on the appeal against both conviction and sentence.
The appeal was finalised without any oral arguments being heard in line with Section 19(a) of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013.
The SCA ruled: “The order of the court a quo is set aside and substituted with the following: ‘The appellants’ petition for leave to appeal in terms of s 309C of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 against both conviction and sentence is granted.’”
*This story has been revised