By Staff Writer
PHALABORWA-The criminal case against a 44-year-old soldier in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) charged with attempted murder after allegedly knowingly and intentionally infecting his partner with HIV has been set down for trial.
The accused, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on June 14.
News24 previously reported that the accused, a staff sergeant stationed at the SANDF’s Special Forces Unit in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, tested positive for HIV in October 2007.
According to the charge sheet, the accused regularly underwent compulsory medical examinations, which included tests for HIV, as a member of the SANDF.
“The accused was immediately, after the outcome of the aforesaid testing, informed by the SANDF medical staff that he was HIV positive,” the charge sheet stated.
In 2016, he became romantically involved with another soldier who held the rank of corporal in the air force.
It’s alleged that the accused had consensual and unprotected sex with her on several occasions between December 2016 and April 2017, but never revealed his HIV status to her.
She tested negative for HIV in August 2016 and did not have sex with anyone from the time she received her negative status report until she became involved with the accused, the charge sheet stated.
“The accused knew very well knew, at all relevant times, that the HIV disease he carried could be sexually transmitted to the complainant if he had unprotected sexual intercourse with her, and that by doing so, he could infect the complainant with HIV.”
