A former member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who knowingly infected his girlfriend with HIV was sentenced to life in prison in the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Leon Santos Conga, 48, was sentenced to an additional 10 years for attempted murder.
The Magistrate ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Lumka Mahanjana welcomed the sentence.
She says Conga and the victim were in a love relationship for four months, from 16 December 2016 until April 2017. Before the two began their relationship, the victim had done an HIV test on 01 December 2016 which came back negative.
When the two started their relationship, the victim raised the HIV conversation and insisted on knowing Conga’s status.
"Conga then lied and misled the victim and told her that he was HIV negative hence his employer was able to deploy him outside the country" she said.
The victim, Antoinette Ndishishi who approached Afriforum's Private Prosecution Unit (PPU) to take on her case, said still, the rule was no condom, no sex.
The NPA says one night when they were intimate he removed his condom and again on another occasion.
Mahanjana says only once Ndishishi started feeling ill did she go for a test to find out she was HIV positive.
She says the victim reported the case to the police but the NPA failed to prosecute due to a lack of evidence due to the SANDF refusing to provide the court with Conga's medical records.
When Afriforums's PPU took over the case they got the records released which revealed that Conga had known about his status since 2007.
With the help of Afriforum Conga was found guilty after an eight-year court battle.
Magistrate Fikiswa Ntlati convicted Conga of rape and attempted murder because Ndishishi only consented to having sex with him on the understanding that he was HIV-negative.
During the trial, Conga stated that the condom was removed by the complainant and denied infecting the victim with HIV. However, the state prosecutor, Advocate Emile Van der Merwe called a witness, Professor Terresa Russouw, an HIV expert who testified about the effects of HIV and assisted the state in proving the attempted murder charge.
The state also provided evidence which revealed that Conga first tested HIV positive on 08 October 2007, therefore he was aware of his HIV status when he removed the condom and had intercourse with the victim.
The NPA's Mahanjana says during the aggravation of the sentence, Advocate Van der Merwe argued that Conga was known to the victim as he served in the military with her brother. She trusted him but he betrayed that trust.
Advocate Van der Merwe also handed in a Victim Impact Statement (VIS) and called Ndishishi to testify in aggravation.
She told the court that Conga left her with an emotional scar and a permanent trademark which is HIV.
Taking antiretroviral treatment (ARV) every night is a constant reminder of the scar he permanently gave her. As such she has anxiety and fears about ever infecting her partner should she be in a relationship or infecting her child should she decide to have a baby.
When handing down the sentence, the Regional Magistrate, Ntlati agreed with the state that Conga showed no remorse and that he committed a very serious offence that had devastating effects on the victim and her family.
