‘Grave injustice': Man acquitted of attempted rape by SCA after fourth appeal

The Citizen

15 hours ago

His eight-year jail sentence was set aside.
A man convicted and jailed for attempted rape has been acquitted by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) after his fourth attempt at overturning the decision.
Vincent Japhta was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted rape in December 2021, more than two years after the incident that led to his arrest.
Western Cape man accused of rape
The alleged incident occurred on 19 May 2019.
During the trial in the Mitchell's Plain Regional Court, it was claimed that Japhta raped a woman at her home.
The complainant testified that on the night of the incident, she had been drinking alcohol with friends and family at her house.
Feeling drunk, she went to her bedroom to sleep, fully clothed. Among the clothing she wore were tight skinny jeans that extended above her waist.
She said she passed out due to intoxication and later woke up to find Japhta on top of her.
According to her, both she and Japhta were naked from the waist down, and her pants and panties were on the floor.
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Japhta told the court that he had gone to the woman's home, where several people, including his friend Andre Pietersen, were drinking.
He said he and the complainant had entered her bedroom twice to check on Pietersen, who was asleep. They kissed on both occasions.
Later, after others had left, Japhta entered the woman's room again and asked if he could lie next to her.
She agreed. They then began kissing and touching each other.
Japhta testified that they both removed their pants and underwear.
He said that when the complainant told him she didn't want to continue, he stopped all physical contact.
According to him, the woman then held him in a cradling position.
Medical report and messages
The court also heard that the complainant told her sister about the incident and was examined by a medical doctor the following day.
The J88 form, a medico-legal report, found no injuries or other evidence of sexual assault.
That same day, the woman contacted Japhta, demanding that he tell her the truth about what had happened.
She sent him approximately 74 WhatsApp messages, in which she threatened to report the matter to police.
READ MORE: SCA acquits man of rape after overturning his friend's 20-year conviction following multiple appeals
In the messages, she claimed that a doctor had found traces of semen inside her vagina.
Japhta later admitted that he 'used his finger' and that 'it was just the head', indicating partial penetration.
The complainant then invited Japhta to her home, saying she wanted him to apologise in person.
However, when he arrived, she and her sister assaulted him, leaving him with cuts and bruises.
Japhta was arrested and later convicted of attempted rape following the trial.
Appeals
Japhta's first appeal, lodged with the regional court in January 2022, was dismissed.
The Western Cape High Court rejected his second appeal in June 2023.
A third attempt, to the SCA was also denied in August 2023.
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Japhta then submitted a petition to SCA Judge President Mahube Molemela, asking for his special leave to appeal application to be reconsidered.
The request was granted by Molemela, and the case was heard in November 2024.
SCA judgment on attempted rape case
On 5 June 2025, Acting SCA Judge Letty Molopa-Sethosa, with four judges concurring, overturned Japhta's conviction and sentence.
The judgment found that the evidence showed that the woman was an 'unreliable witness' due to her level of intoxication.
'In her statement, she only mentioned that she could vaguely recall the applicant being on top of her and having had drinks with family and friends.
'Under cross-examination, she had difficulty explaining how she could subsequently remember all the detail to which she testified in court,' Molopa-Sethosa said.
The judge said that the complainant had used threats and manipulation to pressure Japhta into making admissions, which were made 'perhaps to avoid embarrassment for him and his family'.
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She had also 'disingenuously' led him to believe that medical evidence supported her claim.
'The misleading and threatening WhatsApp messages were undeniably sent by the complainant to the applicant to coerce him into admitting that he had raped her the previous night.'
Molopa-Sethosa emphasised that there was no supporting evidence for the complainant's version and said Japhta's account was not rendered less believable by the facts presented.
She also highlighted that the both the regional and high court 'completely ignored' the complainant's intoxication and its likely effect on her memory.
'In my view, it is manifest that a wrong conviction on such a serious charge must inevitably result in a grave injustice for the applicant.'
The SCA ruled in Japhta's favour, granting his special leave to appeal and setting aside both his conviction and sentence.