By Bahle Gama
EIGHTEEN years old is the legal age at which a person is considered to be in their rightful mind to consent to sexual intercourse.
Engaging in sexual intercourse with a person below that age whether male or female is punishable by law and results in the perpetrator being charged with the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15 of 2018 in Eswatini.
This Act does not allow for a victim/ complainant to withdraw the charge as the state stands in for them and the perpetrator is prosecuted based on the evidence presented and the verdict by the court.
This law was put in place to protect victims who are threatened to withdraw charges against suspects as had been reported in recent cases.
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Sifiso Mthethwa (26) was on Thursday granted bail for E15 000 for allegedly maintaining a sexual relationship with a minor, a 17-year-old girl, and the victim in question.
Mthethwa is facing two counts of contravening the SODV Act.
The first count is of contravening Section 3 (1) as read with Section 3 (3) (c) and Section 3 (9) (b) of the Act in that from November 2023 to February 26 this year he unlawfully and intentionally had sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old in different occasions.
According to his charge sheet, this rape is accompanied by aggravating circumstances in that the minor is a survivor who is incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse and the accused person inflicted physical and lifetime mental trauma on the complainant amongst other things.
The second count is of contravening Section 37 (1) of the SODV Act for unlawfully and intentionally maintaining a sexual relationship with the minor in that duration.
In his bail application at the High Court, Mthethwa said the complainant told him she was 19-years-old, and he believed it because she also told him she was no longer attending school.
He submitted that on February 26 the complainant asked to meet with him at Buhleni and he first disagreed and eventually relented. He met with her, and they spent an hour and thirty minutes together in a nearby waiting room conversing.
At 12:30 pm, whilst in a waiting room at Buhleni, the complainant held his hand and refused for him to leave without having sexual intercourse with her, which he told her he could not because he was rushing to tend to an emergency at home.
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He said he then left her in the waiting room at Buhleni. Later, he learned that she had not gone back home and was eventually found two days later at Ntokozweni around the Mayiwane area where she was wandering.
“After she was found I was then called by the Buhleni Police, and they told me to come to the station which I did. I was asked where she had been and I told them I last saw her in the waiting room on February 26,” he submitted.
Mthethwa said he is not guilty of the charges against him and will plead not guilty to same.
“I am not guilty and never committed the offence I am charged with. I undertake that I will not contact the complainant and there is no likelihood that if I am released on bail I may undermine or jeopardise the objective or the proper functioning of the criminal justice system,” he submitted.
He further told the court that he was employed in the public transport business before his arrest and his continued incarceration will cause him great prejudice as he stands to lose employment.
Of the E15 000 bail he was granted, Mthethwa was ordered to pay E3 000 cash and E12 000 as surety.
He is expected to report at the Buhleni Police Station every last Friday of the month until the matter is concluded in Court.
