The Johannesburg high court ordered the police minister to pay R900,000 to a man who spent 480 days in jail before theft charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
Joseph Bekizitha Dube was arrested on October 30 2017 for suspected gun theft from his workplace, a private security company.
He was taken to Alexandra police station and questioned. He testified that he was brutally assaulted and forced to confess.
Dube testified that the assault was so brutal that he thought that if he told the police he could lead them to the buyer’s home, the torture would cease.
“He signed a statement which the police prepared, he maintained he was forced to sign it,” said judge Shaida Mahomed as she summarised Dube’s evidence.
Dube insisted that the magistrate had never informed him of his right to bail in October 31 2017, and he would not have applied in any event. Dube said he learnt of his right to bail only later that day when he met an attorney in the holding cells, but he could not afford his services as he charged R10,000.
He was detained at Johannesburg prison from October 31 2017 until his release on March 26 2019.
During cross-examination, Dube testified that even if he had the money, he would not have applied for bail because he wanted his day in court to prove his innocence.
The case was remanded on several occasions without any explanation for his continued detention.
Dube testified that he was so poorly treated and tortured while in prison that he had to purchase a mattress to sleep on.
He left home one morning to earn a living to support his family and never returned for over a year. Nothing positive happened for him despite his numerous efforts to persuade the investigating officer of his innocence, throughout his stay in prison.
— Shaida Mahomed, judge
He testified that he missed the birth of his fifth child whom he saw only after her first birthday. He was forced to sell his car because he was in prison for such a long time, and he needed to support his family.
When he appeared in court, each time he was told the matter was postponed for further investigations.
“He testified that he is South African, but on the charge sheet he is noted as Zimbabwean. The police did nothing to verify his identity, and the confession was the only way the (police) could link him to the crime,” Mahomed said.
Dube testified that since his arrest, his community viewed him as a criminal due to his long absence from home. As a result of this unlawful detention, he lost his job and has had trouble securing one since, and he is unable to support his family.
However, counsel for the minister of police argued that Dube failed in his evidence to demonstrate that his continued detention was due to the false confession.
Counsel said Dube testified he chose to await his trial to prove his innocence, adding that Dube remained in custody by his choice, and this must constitute a break in the chain of causation between his arrest and continued detention.
However, counsel for Dube said Dube’s failure to apply for bail cannot be a valid defence for the state.
Mahomed cited a Constitutional Court judgment which held that the plaintiff’s failure to apply for bail was not an intervening act, breaking the chain of causation.
“I agree with counsel for the plaintiff who argued that the conduct of the police and investigating officer led to the continued deprivation of his liberty.”
“He left home one morning to earn a living to support his family and never returned for over a year. Nothing positive happened for him despite his numerous efforts to persuade the investigating officer of his innocence, throughout his stay in prison,” Mahomed said.
The judge said it was common cause that Dube was arrested on information obtained initially from his co-workers.
“The further evidence is that [Dube] was desperate to end his traumatic time in prison, and risked implicating himself, when he signed a confession.
“It was not disputed that the document he signed was presented to him by his captors, they knew they had no other evidence which they could rely on, they ought to have informed the prosecutor of their weak case way back when they drafted the confession.”
Mahomed said it was clear to her that the police failed and in fact refused to investigate Dube’s many protestations of his involvement in the theft.
“To my mind the police may well have exacerbated his case when they recorded him as a national of Zimbabwe, when in fact he is South African. The investigating officer is obliged to inform a prosecutor of all details regarding progress in his/her work,” Mahomed said.
The 2023/24 annual report showed that police made 6,381 payments, including court orders and settlements, with a total value of R617m. The highest payouts were for arrest and detention claims, accounting for R541m.
According to the report, 15,139 new civil claims were registered in 2023/24, with a value of R21bn. The report said the R21bn was a contingent liability and did not necessarily reflect the amounts to which claimants were legally entitled, nor did it necessarily represent the final payment.
The amount of compensation paid is on average only a fraction of the amount claimed.
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