By Zelda Venter
High Court Reporter
Jurie Els will have to defend the sex charges brought against him by fellow singer Robbie Klay after the Pretoria High Court turned down his application for a discharge.
Acting Judge Chris Eksteen did not give reasons for his ruling yesterday, apart from saying: "Given the legal position and the evidence before me, the court cannot grant the application for discharge at this stage."
The judge gave Els's advocate, Danie Dorfling, until today to decide how the defence would conduct its case further.
'Why would he drag his soul through hell for nothing?'
"I believe this (the ruling) comes as a surprise and a shock to you, and I will give you time to consider your position," the judge told Dorfling.
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It was not yet clear whether Els would be called to the witness box today to answer to the allegations against him.
After hearing the news, Els had the same confident smile on his face as he left the dock to speak to his wife, former high jump champion Hestrie Cloete, who was sitting in the front row of the public gallery with a friend.
She has accompanied him to court this week during the discharge application, but did not attend the trial during the evidence of Klay and the other State witnesses.
The pair again arrived hand in hand at court, and Els often smiled lovingly at his wife in the gallery.
His application for discharge was based on arguments by the defence that Klay was a poor witness and that his and the other witnesses' evidence at the end of the State's case was of such poor quality that there could not be a verdict of guilty.
But the State argued yesterday that Els had to answer to the allegations by Klay, 23, who has claimed he was sexually abused by Els from the age of 11 until he was 16.
Prosecutor Corlie Bouwer questioned why Klay had stood in the witness box for eight days and been subjected to the embarrassing and belittling details of homosexual sexual deeds if it was not all true.
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