They argue that the justice minister has misunderstood the challenge to the defence of mistaken belief in consent and the constitutional implications of criminalising negligence

The department is opposing a bid to declare unconstitutional the defence a rape accused can use — that they believed the victim had consented

Acting judge Tembeka Ngcukaitobi’s acquittal of a rape suspect has raised controversy, but legal experts say the fault lay with legislators and not the court