'Brutal police' face class action suit
18 Jan 2012 | Alfred Moselakgomo - Alfredm@sowetan.co.za
POLICE Minister Nathi Mthethwa is facing a R10-million lawsuit after 16 people at Leandra in Mpumalanga were allegedly brutalised by members of the SAPS Tactical Response Team last month.
ASSAULT CLAIMS: A group of people at Leandra in Mpumalanga are suing Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa for R10-million after they were allegedly beaten up by the police's unit known as Amaberete.
Lawyers representing the 16, who include police officers, lawyers and traffic officers, told Sowetan yesterday that their clients were assaulted for no reason by the controversial unit.
The victims also allege they had unsuccessfully tried to open cases at the local police station.
"We have been unable to open a case at Leandra police station so we have decided to instead sue the minister. If the police cannot help us, then he should," said one of the victims.
They have accused the provincial Tactical Response Team of randomly beating them up "for nothing".
The victims claim the response unit, which is based in Nelspruit, travels all over Mpumalanga leaving chaos in its wake. People in the area call this unit "Amaberete" because of the distinctive black and red berets they don.
The unit is under the command of safety and security MEC Vusi Shongwe.
Jabulani Motsoene, 32, a traffic officer at Trichardt, claims he was assaulted by the officers when he questioned them about scratches on his car.
"I had left the car at the car wash when I received a call that there was a fight between members of the community and the TRT next to where I had left my car," Motsoene said.
"When I got to the car, I found that it had rubber bullet marks and when I tried to ask them who had damaged my car, they started assaulting me."
Another resident, Herman Ntuli, said: "Police found us next to the car wash and without saying any word started beating us. It was chaos. This TRT is treating every member of the community as a criminal and they have harmed even the innocent."
Lawyer Mafika Sihlali said Shongwe appeared to be encouraging the unit's "barbaric behaviour".
"Shongwe has endorsed the brutality of this police unit by saying that people found in taverns should not expect to be treated like people who are in church," Sihlali said.
Shongwe yesterday denied he was behind the terror unleashed by the unit.
"The unit was acting on the instruction of the provincial commissioner and I was not even aware that they were in Leandra on that day," Shongwe said.
On the other hand, Mthethwa's office said it was not aware of the claims. Spokesman Zweli Mnisi said it was every citizen's right to sue the state "if they felt their rights have been violated".
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012/01/18/brutal-police-face-class-action-suit
