R580k awarded for wrongful arrest at airport

THE treatment meted out to a woman arrested at King Shaka International Airport on vague suggestions that she may be involved in fraud, and her subsequent 10 nightmare days in custody, amounted to horrific suffering.

- ZELDA VENTER

This is according to the Supreme Court of Appeal in awarding her R580 000 in damages. Cynthia Khedama earlier won her case in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court against the police. She was initially awarded R580 000 in damages, but on appeal before a full bench of the court, the amount was reduced to R350 000.

Khedama appealed before the SCA against the reduced amount. She initially claimed R1 million in damages from the police.

The SCA, in upholding the appeal, commented that in considering the treatment and conditions that prevailed in almost all places where she was detained, she rightfully must have thought that it would be better for her to die.

"The cruelty displayed by the police towards her leaves one with no room to imagine that the police thought that they were still dealing with a fellow human being.