Court awards R850 000 to man wrongfully detained for 120 days

In granting a man who had to spend 120 days in police custody while he was innocent of committing a crime R850 000 in damages, payable by the police, the court commented that what had happened to the man during his incarceration was simply horrendous and inhumane.

Serame Tikoe claimed more than R1million in damages before the North West High Court, sitting in Mahikeng following his nightmare ordeal. He painted a bleak picture to the court of how he had to witness fellow inmates being raped. He also had to hand out cigarettes to gang members in return for protection.

Tikoe, 39, testified that on the afternoon of September 1, 2022, he was on his way to a butcher in Potchefstroom. A male police officer whom he later came to know as Myburgh stopped the plaintiff and told him he wanted to talk to him.

Myburgh took the plaintiff’s hands and held them behind his back, pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him, before pushing him into a police van. This was done in the presence of the public.

At the Potchefstroom police station, the plaintiff was told that he was being arrested for armed robbery and possession of ammunition.

Tikoe had no knowledge of the armed robbery, nor did the police tell him where and when it had happened. He was later taken to Bougroep prison where he remained in custody until February 15, 2023, when he was cleared of any wrongdoing and released.

He told the court that the police cells at Potchefstroom police station were small. There were about 20 people in the cell and he could not bathe because there was no water in the cell.

The blankets were filthy and he was placed in a cell with members of a gang, who took his food. The plaintiff did not have any visitors at Potchefstroom police station because his family did not know he was arrested.

At Bougroep prison, there were 45 people in a cell. They were given two slices of bread, porridge and tea in the morning. At lunch time, they were given pap and a piece of bone; the plaintiff emphasised that it was literally a bone with no meat.

Here he was put in a cell with gang members and he had to witness people being raped in the cell. When the plaintiff had visitors and they gave him cigarettes, he would give the cigarettes to the members of the gang for protection.

At the time of his arrest, his girlfriend, who was pregnant, lost the baby. The plaintiff believes this is because he was not there to support her.

The court said apart from the horrendous conditions in the cells, the manner in which Tikoe was arrested was also troublesome, as the arresting officer had no regard for the plaintiff’s rights, Acting Judge T. Masike said.

The police, meanwhile, conceded the fact that Tikoe’s rights were infringed on and it did not defend the damages claim.

In deciding on how much damages to award, Judge Masike said he is mindful of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s warning that exorbitant amounts are often claimed by litigants and sometimes awarded lavishly by our courts.

“Amounts should not be ‘thumb-sucked’ without due regard to the facts and circumstances of a particular case,” he said, in concluding that R850 000 was reasonable in this case.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za