The Polokwane high court ordered the SAPS to pay a man R500 000 after his nightmare night in a cell
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An acting judge described the conduct of the police towards a man who was arrested for no reason and had to spend a night in a cell crammed with other inmates as “unforgivable” as the man tried to fight not being sodomised, only to be told by the SAPS that “this is the normal lifestyle of incarcerated people.”
Paul Tshamo turned to the Limpopo High Court, sitting in Polokwane, where he claimed R2.5 million in damages from the police minister. This, after he had to spend a night in a police cell under harrowing conditions.
Acting Judge G Diamond awarded him R500,000 in damages. He commented that although this was a high amount for one night behind bars, the terrible manner in which Tshamo was treated warranted this amount of compensation.
Tshamo testified that while in Johannesburg, he received a call from a police officer in Polokwane, who told him to come to the police station. He presented himself to the police the following day, when he was arrested summarily without a warrant.
He had no idea at all as to why he was being arrested and the SAPS told him it was for fraud.
As a result of the arrest, a case was opened against Tshamo, but the matter was subsequently withdrawn due to a lack of evidence.
Following his nightmare ordeal, Tshamo claimed damages against the police. The latter simply issued a bare denial to the allegations levelled against them. As they did not defend the matter, he obtained a default judgment without the police.
His counsel told the court that he should be awarded R500,000, and the judge said he agreed.
To substantiate this amount, the judge said the plaintiff received a telephone call from a police officer telling him to present himself to the police station in Polokwane, which he indeed did at his earlier convenience.
Judge Diamond said Tshamo was summarily arrested on suspicion of fraud; however, up until today, not a single explanation has been given by the SAPS as to why the arrest took place.
“It is mind-boggling that the plaintiff was arrested in the first instance. What one would have expected was that the police should have realised that they were dealing with a law-abiding citizen that cooperates with their requests.”
Judge Diamond added that one would have expected them to first investigate the case before making any arrests.
The judge also pointed out that while in detention, the plaintiff was locked up in an overcrowded police holding cell. The cell was filthy, and there was no proper sanitation. There was no bed to sleep on.
During the night, there were attempts by some inmates to sodomise the plaintiff. When he alerted the police of these attempts, they simply stated that this was the normal lifestyle of incarcerated people.
“He had to fight off attempts to sodomise him the whole night. When he had to relieve himself, it was in full view of these people.”
The judge said the plaintiff is a successful businessman in Polokwane. He states that the entire experience was dehumanising.
“In my view, the conduct of the defendant (police) compounds an already unacceptable situation: There is not the slightest indication as to what led to the immediate arrest. The public are entitled to rely on the assumption that police would act lawfully and legally within all circumstances.”
The judge added that the circumstances under which the plaintiff was detained were shocking. “The unconcerned attitude of the police officials when the plaintiff attempted to report the fact that inmates tried to sodomise him is unforgivable,” he said.
