[imagesource:facebook/southafricanpoliceservice]

Minister of Police Bheki Cele has been instructed by the Pietermaritzburg high court to pay R3.3 million in damages to a man, Mdunyiswa Mtolo, who was unjustly detained for nearly three years due to “malice.”

Mtolo was arrested in September 2011 on charges of housebreaking with intent to steal, theft of saddles, and theft of a motor vehicle.

Without proper proof of the crime, Mtolo had to wait until June 2014 in custody, when the charges were dropped.

In 2021, the state finally admitted that Mtolo’s arrest, detention and prosecution were driven by the malicious intent of the police. In all that time, the poor guy had to endure awful conditions in various SA jail cells.

Mtolo testified that the cells were unclean and unsanitary, with blankets that appeared to be vomited on and covered in blood splatters. He also witnessed police assaulting other detainees, living in constant fear of similar treatment.

Even after being moved to a prison, he was subjected to humiliating strip searches whenever he returned from court, enduring the ordeal at least 37 times.

Now that just feels inhumane and unnecessary.

It feels like proper vindication on the part of Mtolo that the court has now ruled that the Minister of Police is mandated to pay the victim for his suffering. And eat some humble pie too.

Mtolo will receive a payment of R3 million for the insult to dignity and deprivation of freedom resulting from malicious arrest and detention, R300 000 for the impairment of dignity, good name, and reputation due to malicious prosecution, and R67 200 for the loss of earnings.

While this case is certainly a win for the innocent man caught in the crosshairs of a failing detention system, the scary reality is that the whopping R3.3 million owed to Mtolo is a fart in the wind compared to the annual amounts our Ministry of Police has to award to victims of unlawful arrests.

The police’s annual report for 2021/2022 disclosed that they disbursed R470 million for 4598 payments to pay for claim settlements. Of this amount, R346.2 million was attributed to malicious arrest and detention, making them the largest component of payouts.

The data is enough to make anyone feel hopeless about our policing systems.

At least there are some good guys on the legal side of this story, including Judge Robin Mossop, who has spoken out about the disturbing nature of Mtolo’s case following the updated settlement claim.

“It must have been a shocking and unnerving experience for [Mtolo] and it appears that he was failed by those who ought to have helped him … The powerlessness of his situation must have been overwhelming. These factors must play an important part in determining the amount to be awarded to the plaintiff.”

No wonder Mtolo is getting a large chunk of dosh awarded; he really went through the worst for no reason.

[source:timeslive]