COUNT 27 - FRAUD

Zanalee Smith (‘Smith’), the complainant on counts 26, 27 and 28 testified, inter alia, as follows

[a] During this meeting the accused told her that he wanted her to work for him as a model scout. She had to look for other girls that were presentable and who had the basic look of a model. She was told by the accused that she needed to attend an assessment, which comprised of taking of her measurements, a test shoot and to see how comfortable she was in front of the camera. She was further informed that there were three divisions in the shoot, namely casual, swimwear and formal. She was told that she needed to bring these items with her when she attended the assessment. She subsequently met the accused at his residence in Kempton Park, for the test shoot

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[b] During this meeting the accused told her that he wanted her to work for him as a model scout. She had to look for other girls that were presentable and who had the basic look of a model. She was told by the accused that she needed to attend an assessment, which comprised of taking of her measurements, a test shoot and to see how comfortable she was in front of the camera. She was further informed that there were three divisions in the shoot, namely casual, swimwear and formal. She was told that she needed to bring these items with her when she attended the assessment. She subsequently met the accused at his residence in Kempton Park, for the test shoot.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[c] They discussed the shoot and proceeded to a derelict building situated next to his residence. At a certain stage during the photo shoot, the accused told her to change into her swimwear. He insisted on applying the shimmering dust onto her body. The accused then told her to open her legs during the shoot, which made her nervous. He then asked her if she wanted music, as it would calm her down.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[d] The accused then asked her to stand against a wall with her arms above her head in order to give definition to her body. He approached her and fixed her arms. The accused then attempted to kiss her on her mouth. She pushed him away lightly, and requested him to remain professional, otherwise she would leave. He stated that she may have misread the signals and that it would not happen again and giggled. He said “ Moenie worry nie, ek gaan jou nog kry”. She felt very insecure as a result of the accused’s conduct. They thereafter proceeded to another site for further photographs.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[e] She continued modeling for him and initially paid him R 3000,00 for the assessment, test shoot and the photographs. She downloaded 35 of the 50 photographs from facebook. She subsequently paid him R 1500,00 at the beginning of 2013 for photographs in respect of a second shoot at the African Lodge in Kempton Park. She recruited two other models for this shoot. She did not get paid for recruiting these models, nor did she receive her photographs. (1)

Transcripts Page 823 - R3 000, this was for my assessment and my test shoot to get the photos as well. Did you receive any photographs? I received approximately 35 out of the 50/50 promised photos, but they were only posted on Face Book and I had to download them myself. Were there any other photographs that you paid for? My second shoot, we went to African Lodge somewhere in Kempton Park,

I cannot really remember the name. Okay. Yes? I paid R1 500, we had, it was me and two models that I have recruited. They have received their photos but I did not receive mine. Was the R1 500 only for the photographs? Yes. Okay. Because it was on location Dawie also had his expenses towards the lodge basically. You said you did not receive the photographs, would I be correct in saying that you did not receive any of the photographs? From the second photo shoot, none. So madam, how were these payments being made to the accused? My mother paid by EFT.

NOTES: ACCUSED

• This is such a straight forward case.

• The R3000 was for the Assessment &

Photo Shoot she received.

• R1500 for the photos of the camp which was not long before my arrest. All my hdd was taken and Zanalee and many others could not have received the photos as I was not in position of these photos.

• R1500 for the photos which was handed to her in court.

• The judge found me guilty on R1500 which was handed to Zanelee in court as I did not have access to those photos because the equipment was taken by the police.

[f] At the time of their initial discussions, the accused had informed her that he would pay her an amount of R 14 000,00 for 40 models recruited. She recruited 8 models for the accused and was not paid for her efforts. In addition, it was agreed between them that she would work on the weekends at the Sports arena for photo shoots. It was agreed that she would be paid an amount of R 150,00 per hour for services rendered. Despite her having worked for 19 hours, she only received R 150,00 for the Saturday and R 200,00 for

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[g] She began becoming agitated about her payments and when she asked to be properly remunerated, the accused said that he would do another photoshoot for her and would offset the cost against the commission that she would have received for recruiting the models. The photo shoot never materialised and the accused had not performed as per their agreement.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

[h] She admitted knowing Van Wyk and that her father had assisted her in contacting Carte Blanche. In addition, she communicated with other models relating to the accused. The accused subsequently found out and told her that he would take her to court for defamation and for bad mouthing him. She confirmed the contents of the email, which she received from the accused and it was handed in as Exhibit “W”.

Not relevant.

[i] She was adamant that the accused tried to kiss her and later flirted with her and threatened to kill her boyfriend.

That in essence concluded the evidence of the 20th witness, Smith.

JUDGMENT STATE EVIDENCE

[a] He denied the allegations on counts 26, 27 and 28 in respect of Smith. He admitted to having touched her during the photo shoot in order to help her with her pose and stance. He was of the view that she lied about his conduct as a result of her having to abide by her statement. He had approached an attorney to assist with charges of crimen injuria and defamation of character against Smith, but did not know what became of these allegations.

He was of the view that Smith made the allegation of sexual assault, as this is the allegation in the industry that grabs everyones attention. He admitted that the contents of Exhibit “MM” were never put to Smith during her cross examination. In terms of the emails she had scouted only 7(seven) models. She was duly paid for the seven models that she had brought in to the agency. He paid her the amount of R 800,00 (eight hundred rand) in order to motivate her and to perhaps cover the cost of her fuel, and did not include monies for any other work.

She did not pay for the photographs and had provided her with some of her photographs on facebook. He admitted that he reprimanded Smith about her boyfriend and it was possible that problems started between them, as a result of this. In addition, he was of the view that she was influenced by Van Wyk.

We handed in a lot of evidence related to the 15 photos including giving it to Zanalee in court, none of that is mentioned here and the cross examination with Pienaar is missing.

JUDGMENT STATE EVIDENCE

[51] Zanalee Smith testified in respect of counts 26, 27 and 28 against the accused. In respect of count 26 she testified that the accused tried to kiss her on her mouth during a photo shoot. This witness gave her evidence in a satisfactory manner and cannot be unduly criticized. It is clear from her evidence that the accused in fact did not kiss her and said to her that he would get her later. As such, it is clear that the conduct of the accused does not fall within the contravention of Section 5 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

R 4500,00 for the photographs from her photoshoot. Despite demand on numerous occasion the accused did not give her the photographs. The accused’s version is that she paid for the photo-shoot and not the photos. I have carefully looked at the totality of the evidence on this count and accept the version of Smith over that of the accused

NOTES: ACCUSED

• As states above, the judge made a mistake with the evidence led by the state that she did not get her photos, I am charged for fraud of R4500 of which her evidence only demonstrates photos to the value of

R1500.

• This is proof that I got found guilty on a charge where;

• She did receive the R3000 before the matter was in court

• I had NO access to the equipment and as a result of the police having the equipment got accused for committing fraud.

• She accepted that and took the photos during the trial.

In respect of count 28, the witness alleged that she was promised an amount, as per the indictment for work that she was to have performed on behalf of the accused. From the totality of the evidence that has been led before this court, I am not convinced that the State has been able to prove the allegations against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly the accused is given the benefit of the doubt on this count.

• INNOCENT as per judgment

PALAVER CONCLUSION

One more poor judgment. Although the accused was found not guilty on most of the charges related to this witness, there is no way the court had sufficient evidence to conclude that he is guilty of fraud; in the worst-case scenario, this matter should be disputed in a civil court. This is not a criminal matter.