Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has been ordered to pay a 70-year-old man R175,000 in damages after he was unlawfully arrested and kept in detention for five days without his high blood medication.
Motsomi Albanus Ramotshela was arrested on January 3 and released on January 8, 2018.
On the day of his arrest, Ramotshela who was 63 years at the time, said he was in Soweto, Johannesburg when he received a call from a police officer who only identified himself as Pule.
The officer informed him that police had found stolen cattle on his farm and he should report to Phokeng Police Station in Rustenburg.
He went to the police station and on his arrival, he met the officer he had spoken with on the phone.
Without being shown a warrant of arrest, Ramotshela was arrested and held in custody at the Phokeng Police Station cells.
He said he was not taken to court and was released without any explanation after spending five days and four nights in the holding cell.
Explaining the cell conditions, he said the cell was overcrowded and the toilet was not working. He did not take a bath for the whole time of his detention because there was no privacy in the cell.
He added that he slept on the cement floor using one blanket to cover himself. He was given food, but the food was not good.
He said he was on high blood pressure treatment and when he requested his medication, police officers refused.
At the time of his arrest, he was a farmer and divorced with five children. He testified that his family did not know about the arrest and when he told his children about the arrest following his release, their relationship was severed.
He claimed that while in detention, he suffered over R100,000 financial loss and his Mercedes Benz C200 was also damaged.
He initially wanted R2.5 million in compensation and later reduced the amount to R300,000.
Acting judge T Masike said Ramotshela’s arrest and detention was unnecessary and due to the absence of explanation for the arrest and detention, police acted unlawfully when executing their duties.
Judge Masike said having considered all the evidence and the relevant case laws, R175,000 would be a fair amount of compensation for Ramotshela.
IOL News