Synopsis:
Application for confirmation of an order of invalidity made by the Supreme Court of Appeal declaring sections 14(1)(b) and 14(3)(b) of the Sexual Offences Act 23 of 1957 unconstitutional. Those provisions made the age of consent for same-sex sexual relations 19 years, as opposed to 16 years for heterosexual relations. Since this legislation had been repealed in 2007, the case concerned only those persons who were convicted under the legislation then in force. The Court held that the sections constituted unfair discrimination, and lowered the age of consent for same-sex sexual relations to 16 years, in line with heterosexual relations.
