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affidavit to be subpoenaed to give oral evidence in the proceedings in question or may
cause written interrogatories to be submitted to such person for reply and such
interrogatories and any reply thereto purporting to be a reply from such person are
likewise admissible in evidence at such proceedings.
(4)
No provision of this section affects any other law under which any
certificate or other document is admissible in evidence and the provisions of this section
are deemed to be additional to and not in substitution of any such law.
(5)
(a)
For the purposes of subsection (1), a document purporting to
be an affidavit made by a person who in that affidavit alleges that he or she is in the
service of a body in the Republic or foreign State designated by the Cabinet member
responsible for the administration of justice, by notice in the Gazette, have no effect
unless—
(i)
it is obtained in terms of an order of a competent court or on the authority of a
government institution of the foreign State concerned, as the case may be; and
(ii)
it is authenticated—
(aa)
in the manner prescribed in the rules of court for the authentication of
documents executed outside the Republic; or
(bb)
by a person and in the manner contemplated in section 7 or 8 of the
Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act, 1963 (Act No. 16
of 1963).
(b)
The admissibility and evidentiary value of an affidavit
contemplated in paragraph (a) are not affected by the fact that the form of the oath,
confirmation or attestation thereof differs from the form of the oath, confirmation or
attestation prescribed in the Republic.
(c)
A court before which an affidavit contemplated in paragraph
(a) is placed may, in order to clarify any obscurities in the said affidavit and at the
request of a party to the proceedings, order that a supplementary affidavit be submitted
or that oral evidence be heard: Provided that oral evidence may only be heard if the