REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA 115. In S v Jackson340 the cautionary rule, an antiquated rule of evidence that encouraged courts to treat the evidence of rape victims with circumspection, was declared unconstitutional, leading to its abolition. In Masiya v Director of Public Prosecutions Pretoria341 the Constitutional Court extended the definition of rape to include non-consensual anal penetration of females, which was until then not apparent in the statutory definition of rape. 116. In Carmichele v Minister of Safety and Security342 the Constitutional Court held that the state is obliged by the Constitution and international law to prevent violence against women and to protect the dignity, freedom and security of women. As such, it upheld a female applicant’s application to have the Ministers of Justice and of Safety and Security held liable for her brutal attack by a man who, at the time, was awaiting trial for having attempted to rape another woman and had been released on the recommendation of the investigation officer and prosecutor, despite his history of sexual violence. In another case, Van Eeden v Minister of Safety and Security343 the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by a young woman who sought damages from the state following her sexual assault, rape and robbery by a known dangerous criminal who had escaped from police custody. The Court held that the state had a duty of care to victims of sexual violence in particular and of violent crime in general. 117. The effectiveness of the legislation and policies have been seen in landmark court decisions in the examples of sentencing handed down for prosecutions of sexual offences, for example: i) The matter of the State versus Kili, involved the rape and killing of a 48 year old woman from Lesseyton, Queenstown in her home during the day. The deceased’s boyfriend had left their home to go to his parental homestead, when the accused accosted her. He raped her and cut her throat. The Judge handed down a life sentence on the murder count and ten years on the rape and refused leave to appeal. ii) In State versus Nofemele the accused abducted and raped twelve children between the ages of two and eight years. He also killed one of the little girls. The accused was convicted of 12 counts of rape, 12 counts of abduction and one count of murder. The Western Cape High Court sentenced him to 11 life sentences and ten years for abduction. iii) In the matter of the State versus Rodolo which stems from Kenton–on–Sea, the accused went on a rampage during the course of one night, first breaking into the house of the deceased to rob and kill him and thereafter breaking into the house of an elderly female whom he held up at knife point and raped. The accused was arrested in possession of the deceased’s cell phone and this was the only evidence linking him to the murder scene. The accused was given a life sentence on the murder trial and a further 22 years effectively on the other charges. 340 1998 (1) SALR 470 SCA 2007 (5) SA 30 (CC) 342 2001 (4) SA 938 (CC) 343 2003 (1) SA (389)(SCA) 341 169