A court has found that using the word “p**s” in a bekgeveg doesn’t necessarily constitute a breach of a protection order.
The accused, only identified in the judgement as “BL”, was charged with two counts of contravention of the Domestic Violence Act.
It was alleged that “BL” had contravened the terms of a protection order granted in June 2023 last year when he vloeked out his sister and her teen daughter.
The sister testified that her children were studying for school exams on the evening of 5 June, when the accused came into the main house and prepared food for himself.
He played music loudly and the kids asked him to turn it down, but he refused and then the teen made it softer.
According to the sister, he told the girl “ek gaan jou in jou ma se p**s in slaan”, and “vat weer aan my p**s se musiek, julle is in julle p**s”.
The sister called the cops and the man was locked up for the night.
The brother admitted there was a bekgeveg, but explained that he angrily stated: “los my ma se p**s se ding,” referring to his radio.
He was slapped with a 12-year suspended jail sentence. Judge Gayaat Salie explained that the p-word, as used by the accused, must be considered in the grammatical context.
Salie says: “The complainant was not threatened to be assaulted or beaten with illustration of the p-word. Had it been the case that the p-word had been used as a noun or a verb, the position would be different and would be considered as a violation of the interdict.”
She overturned the brother’s conviction.