Man awarded damages after wrongful arrest

FOR his ordeal of being assaulted by police officers, wrongfully arrested, and then detained, a Mpumalanga man will be paid R110 000 after a court issued the order this week at the High Court of South Africa at the Mpumalanga Division in Mbombela.

- CHEVON BOOYSEN

The Police Ministry has been ordered to pay R80 000 in respect of the plaintiffs unlawful arrest and detention from January 28-30, 2023.

The court further ordered that the Ministry pay R30 000 in respect of the plaintiff's unlawful assault by police officers.

The court heard that the man was travelling in his car with his wife and daughter when he was stopped by a police vehicle and told to alight from the vehicle. Whereafter, he was forced to touch a gun that was in police possession and did not belong to the plaintiff.

The judgment read: “On 28 January 2023 at approximately 2pm at or near Newscom Trust, Mpumalanga, while he was travelling in his motor vehicle with his wife and daughter, the plaintiff was stopped by members of the SAPS from Kabokweni police station, on allegations that he had committed robbery and attempted murder.