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Police
must pay abused victim
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The minister of police has been ordered to pay R75 000 to a senior
state accountant who was allegedly abducted, tortured and wrongfully accused
of theft.
A settlement agreement, in terms of which the minister agreed to pay the amount to Simphiwe Wilfred Zondi of Danville, Pretoria was yesterday confirmed in the North Gauteng High Court. Zondi’s damages claim of almost a R1 million against the minister of defence was postponed so that the minister could consider a settlement offer. Zondi, who works for the defence force in Pretoria, said in court papers a major and flight sergeant had abducted him from his workplace one morning in September 2004 and took him to the offices of the police’s Serious and Violent Crimes Unit. He alleged members of the police had forced him to undress, tied him to a chair and tortured him by pouring water over him, pulling a rubber tube over his head and repeatedly smothering him. He was allegedly also repeatedly slapped and hit with a plastic pipe. The two officers who abducted him allegedly untied him hours later and took him to a park in Danville, where he was dumped. Zondi alleged the same officers had forced him to accompany them for a polygraph test 10 days later and thereafter arrested him in November 2004 on a charge of housebreaking and stealing $75 000 (R825 000) and searched his house. He only appeared in court three days later and was kept in custody for 11 days before being released on bail. The case against him was postponed several times before all charges were eventually withdrawn almost a year later. He sued the police and defence force for the unlawful deprivation of freedom and detention, assault, malicious prosecution and the humiliation and loss of dignity he suffered. The police and defence force in court papers denied any unlawful conduct. By Ilse de Lange |
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Crimes of the South African Police Service
