Case discussion at Stellenbosch Justice Centre 23/06/2012

Client: Nkosinathi Jalisa Previous Court Date:

18/06/2012

Case number: DD 198/2012 Future Court Date:

11/07/2012 for trial

Charge: Assault with the intent to grievous bodily harm.

Complainant: Margaret De Bruyn

Charge: That the accused on or about the 27/03/2011 at or nearby

Lavalle farm, De Doorns in the district of Worcester unlawfully and
intentionally assaulted the complainant by hitting her with a stone and
kicking, where he caused her certain wounds or injuries with the
intention to hurt her seriously.

On this day, a Sunday, the complainant alleges that she and the
accused were at a party on the farm where they live. They were busy
drinking. On this night the complainants husband was not at home and
the accuseds girlfriend, Franceline, was to sleep over at her house that
night. The complainant says that on this night, she and the accuseds
girlfriend spent the night joking and laughing with each other. She then
says that out of the blue, the accused attacked her for no reason. She
says the accused approached her with a stone and hit her with it on her
head. He then grabbed her arms tightly and then kicked her against her
right calve so hard that he kicked her legs out from under her. She then
stood up and he again kicked her against her right calve. She says the
accused said nothing and admits they both were under the influence of
alcohol. The complainant then got up and admits she continue drinking
and partying and only left the party at 9pm. The accuseds girlfriend
then later came to sleep over by her. The next day, the Monday, when
the complainant woke up, she saw her right calve was purple was
swollen from her upper leg till by her ankle. On the next day, the
Tuesday, there was waterblisters on her calve. It was only on the Friday,
5 days after the incident, when the complainant decided to see a doctor
in town. All the doctor did at that time was give the complainant pain
pills and told her that she must return the next Monday to get a x-ray.
The complainant waited that long to go to the doctor because she
thought the injury was not that serious. The complainants leg then
pained her too much and the Sunday, a week after the incident, she
went to Worcester Hospital. She was hospitalised and then she was
transferred to Tygerberg Hospital on the Tuesday, the 4/04/2011. The
complainant says that on the 5/04/2011, they had to amputate the
complainants entire right leg.
When looking at the doctors report, the doctor said that on the
4/04/2011, when the complainant was admitted to Tygerberg Hospital,
she was in septic shock. Further examination revealed necrotizing
fasciitis of the right leg. Necrotizing fasciitis is the fleshing eating
disease caused by a bacterial infection. This is a rare disease which is
more likely to occur in people with compromised immune systems. The
complainant was then taken to urgent debridement on the 4 th. On the
7th the complainant underwent a second debridement of her right leg.
Debridement is the removing of dead, damaged or infected tissue in to
improve the healing potential of the remaining tissue. At this point her
leg was found to be unsalvageable and was amputated on the 7th of
April.

In terms of the eyewitness evidence against the accused, all three

eyewitnesses say the same thing:

They were busy drinking and the accused was teasing the complainant.
She got angry and fed up and told him Sien jy, jy wil nie ophou nie.
She then picked up a stone and motioned towards the accused with it.
The accused got angry and kicked her feet out from under her three
times, causing her to fall on the ground. After each kick she stood up
quickly. He was reprimanded by a friend and told to stop. Then the
argument was over and they continued on drinking.

The accuseds version is that he was at the party that night. Both he
and the complainant was under the influence of alcohol. He says he still
understood the difference between right and wrong. He further states
he cannot remember the events of that night so clearly because of the
alcohol. He and the complainant got into an argument over something
she said to his girlfriend. He says she made him angry and then he
tripped her. He then admits to kicking her 3 times. He then says that
she stood up and they further went on drinking. He says at that time
she looked okay and walked normally. He did not know how serious the
wound was at that time and did not mean to injure her that badly.

The Accused is willing to plead guilty of the charge and accept liability
for kicking her unlawfully, but says that he did not intend that she get
so seriously injured that she lost her leg.