ZELDA VENTER
The conduct of police officers in arresting a motorist on a non-charge of reckless driving, his wife for trumped-up charges of interfering with the SAPS for doing their work, pepper spraying the couple and insults hurled at the wife which were so profound that an interpreter refused to translate the words in court, will cost the taxpayers dearly.
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ordered the minister of police to pay R420 000 in damages to Salthiel Langa and R490 000 towards his wife, Zanele Langa.
The pair were so affected by their ordeal that both still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The couple instituted separate claims for damages against the police for unlawful arrest and detention, and for assault, as a result of an incident that occurred in October 2020.
Both had to spend a night in a police cell before they were allowed to go home the next day. They had to face court proceedings for six months, which never got off the ground, before all charges were withdrawn against them.
Both said that there was from the start no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing on their part and they were arrested after they refused to pay a bribe to the officials.
Between them, they claimed more than R1.4 million from the police for their suffering, emotional shock and impairment of their dignity.
The couple were arrested without a warrant of arrest and detained by the SAPS at Kameeldrift Police Station.
Judge Portia Phahlane, who accepted the evidence of the couple as true, was so critical regarding the conduct of the three officers involved that she directed that a copy of her judgment be referred to IPID, the minister of police as well as to the commissioner for the investigation of the three constables - who denied any wrongdoing.
Constable Tumishi Aphane testified that he and his two colleagues were driving along Moloto road when they noticed a vehicle driven by Langa at high speed. They stopped him and informed him that he was driving recklessly.
He said when he tried to arrest him, Langa became violent and aggressive − by pushing him. He said he applied minimum force and used pepper spray to subdue Langa before handcuffing him and placing him in the van.
According to him, Mrs Langa tried to help her husband not to be arrested by pulling his leg, and she was also pepper sprayed. It was at this point that constable Lucia Dibeila “removed” the wife from holding on to the police officer’s leg.
When asked by the court why they did not issue a ticket to Langa, Aphane responded that Moloto Road is a busy road full of accidents caused by negligent drivers, and for that reason, they do not issue tickets but automatically refer all matters to Cullinan magistrate court.
Mr Langa testified that he was stopped by the police who were driving a marked police vehicle. They flashed their lights and he pulled off the road. He explained that his wife warned him to be careful and to make sure the people stopping them were real police officers because the person approaching them was wearing a balaclava.
Mr Langa said constable Aphane told him that if he did not want to go to prison, he should pay R300, which he refused to pay. He told Aphane that he was also a police officer, which angered the constable and who then pepper sprayed him before arresting him.
Mrs Langa explained how she was also manhandled, assaulted and pepper sprayed by Dibeila when she tried to record a video on her phone of what was happening. Dibeila eventually managed to get hold of the phone, but by then, unaware to the officer, Mrs Langa had already recorded the events.
The video footage was used in court, in which it can be heard how Dibeila insulted the wife by using vulgar words in referring to her private parts. The words used were so extreme and shocking that the interpreter refused to repeat them and told the court that “the interpreter would not place it on record”.
When asked in court why she swore at the woman, Dibeila simply answered, “I was bored and irritated by her.” Following their harrowing ordeal, the couple had to obtain medical and psychological help. They described their nightmare ordeal as something which they will never forget.
FACT BOX
Payouts of claims after illegal arrests by the SAPS for the duration of former police minister Bheki Cele’s term – from 2018 to June this year – amounted to more than R2.4 billion, AfriForum said in September last year.
The civil rights organisation said that from 2023 up to September last year, payouts of at least R600 million were made. Compared to payouts made in 2018/2019, 2019 payouts showed an increase of almost 70%.
AfriForum said the shocking revelation necessitated the urgent reform of the SAPS’s training programmes and practices. AfriForum’s demand for reform was in response to the alarming figures of illegal arrests Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu revealed in Parliament earlier. Mchunu last year said 4 135 illegal arrests were carried out in the 2023/2024 financial year, which resulted in claims of more than R2bn.
In one case before the courts last year, a man illegally detained for 22 hours in a filthy cell after the police mistook pieces of glass for illicit diamonds was set to receive R60 000 in damages.
The Uber driver, Tony Sethaba, who is also a motivational speaker, turned to the North West High Court, sitting in Mafikeng following his ordeal. Mmadu Ifechukhu also will never forget his ordeal at the hands of the SAPS, despite the fact that the court awarded him R160 000 in damages following his unlawful arrest and detention in a filthy cell. He was accused of stealing a plasma TV - something he knew nothing about. After being assaulted for an entire night by the police, he was locked up before being released the next day.
In another case, the court ordered that the SAPS had to pay damages to a woman (the amount still to be determined) after a police officer “arrested her for drunken driving”. Helga Muller, who did not drink that night, was stopped by an officer in Centurion, who solicited a R6 000 bribe from her.
When she refused to pay, the officer drove around with her in the police vehicle for hours and threatened to lock her up in the notorious Sunnyside police cells. In the end, and out of desperation, Muller withdrew R2 000 which she gave the officer. Muller, however, reported the matter and turned to court for the deprivation of her liberty after she was detained in the SAPS vehicle for hours.