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(c)

solicits or entices such a girl or boy to the commission of an immoral

or indecent act,

shall be guilty of an offence.

…

(3)

Any female who—

(a)

has or attempts to have unlawful carnal intercourse with a boy under

the age of 16 years; or

(b)

commits or attempts to commit with such a boy or with a girl under

the age of 19 years an immoral or indecent act; or

(c)

solicits or entices such a boy or girl to the commission of an immoral

or indecent act,

shall be guilty of an offence.”

[26]⁠Section 14 of the Act has in the meantime been repealed and replaced by the 2007 Act, which came into effect on 16 December 2007.^[1]

[27]⁠It is trite that a person must be judged according to the law in operation at the time of the commission of the offence.^[2] The relatively common exception is when the legislation that is repealed is unconstitutional.^[3] But in this case the fact that the legislation under which the applicant had been convicted has now been repealed does not, of itself, relieve him of his convictions. In this case, all material facts of the offences of which he had been convicted occurred after 1994, after the advent of the interim Constitution and its protective Bill of Rights. The applicant was therefore within his rights to approach the courts to impugn the legislation on the basis that it

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1. With the exception of chapters 5 and 6, which are irrelevant for present purposes.
2. Section 12(2) of the Interpretation Act 33 of 1957. See also the discussion on the retrospectivity of sentences in Milton and Cowling South African Criminal Law and Procedure 2 ed vol 3 (Juta, Cape Town 2008) at 1–28.
3. See for example the striking down of crimes in National Coalition above n 3 and Case and Another v Minister of Safety and Security and Others; Curtis v Minister of Safety and Security and Others [1996] ZACC 7; 1996 (3) SA 617 (CC); 1996 (5) BCLR 609 (CC).