Nathi Mthethwa to pay R370 000 in damages
24 January 2014 10:29
The North Gauteng High Court has ordered that R370
000 in damages be paid to the family of an Mpumalanga farmer who was shot dead
by an escaped prisoner with a policeman’s service pistol.
The Citizen reported today that Police Minister
NathiMthethwa was ordered to pay R280 000 in damages to the farmer’s wife,
Cornelia Bezuidenhout, and R90 000 to his daughter, Beulah Bezuidenhout.
Johannes Bezuidenhout was shot dead in front of his
wife on a farm in Groblersdal in July 2002.
The gunman, David Mammushi, had escaped from police
custody at the Sekhukhune Magistrates’ Court where he was to appear on a charge
of rape.
During the escape, Mammushi overpowered a police
sergeant and took his service pistol which he used two days later to kill
Bezuidenhout in an armed robbery.
Mammushi was rearrested and convicted of murder in
2005.
According to the newspaper, Judge Andre Louw told
the court it was common cause that the police had been negligent in failing to
keep Mammushi in custody and allowing him to escape with a weapon.
- Sapa
