Cops pay up for torture
South Africa
Tuesday 30 April
2013 - 2:53pm
Police torture victim Zipho Ndlovu recalls his ordeal
JOHANNESBURG -
When I first met Zipho Ndlovu I noticed how quiet he was and wondered if he was
always like this.
On May 27, 2010
he was arrested in Bedfordview while working as a security guard. He was taken
to the Midrand police station where he was questioned about a robbery.
Nlovu was held
at the police station for four days and tortured.
In April the
Johannesburg High Court awarded him R180 000 in damages for the torture itself,
pain and suffering and lost earnings from the two weeks of work he missed as a
result.
When you look at
Ndlovu, you notice signs of what had happened.
He struggles to
maintain eye contact. And while speaking about his ordeal has a habit of
tapping his hands on the chair or biting his lip.
“Sometimes I
think about what happened. Maybe I wasn’t wise enough. Even now I still think
about it,” he says.
During the trial
when he saw the two policemen involved, Ndlovu admits he was terrified.
“I got a huge
fright when I saw them at court. I was going to the bathroom but when I saw
them, I quickly turned around and went back into the court room.
"I asked
someone to walk with me (to the toilet),” he says.
Meanwhile his
lawyer, Professor Peter Jordi from the Wits Law Clinic, says he wants to return
to court for a bigger settlement.
He is convinced
criminal remedies are no help when it comes to police torture cases because
police are required to investigate their colleagues.
Ndlovu’s
criminal case has still not been finalised.
Police spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said while the two police officers were
departmentally charged, the hearing “was delayed due to the fact that the
victim did not corporate to come and testify".
“The trial will
be re-instituted since there has been a High Court judgement against the
police,” he says.
Ndlovu denies
being asked to testify in an internal hearing. He wants the two police officers
involved to be punished.
- eNCA
