Three people arrested in connection with the murders of three women at a laundry and dry cleaning business in Vereeniging have been awarded damages for their unlawful arrest and detention 18 years ago.
Protea Dry Cleaners employees Victoria Ndweni, Jocelyn Lesito and Constance Moeletsi were found in laundry bins at their place of work on January 4 2006. The women were tied with rope and had been strangled.
The business' owner Charl Colyn, his daughter Isabel Kruger and Ruan Swanepoel were among seven people arrested soon after the discovery of the bodies. Samuel Mzizi, Christoffel Van Wyk, Jacques Smit and Jacob Dlamini were also arrested.
The charges against all the accused were withdrawn after the court ruled the state had no evidence.
Colyn, his daughter and Swanepoel sued the minister of safety and security (now police minister) for their unlawful arrests and detention.
The matter was heard in the Johannesburg high court before acting judge Tebogo Thupaatlase.
While all seven accused lodged a case against the police “only three of the plaintiffs who initially instituted the action against the defendant testified”, Thupaatlase noted in his judgment.
“Unfortunately, due to the delay in the finalisation of the matter, two plaintiffs died before the matter was enrolled for hearing.”
The other plaintiffs could no longer be traced.
In his testimony Colyn detailed the “ordeal he endured from the time of his arrest and also during the time of detention at police stations”.
This included having to endure the large crowd that attended the court case, which was apparently “stirred up to intimidate” and falsely accuse him of being a murderer before threatening to burn down his businesses.
“The first plaintiff testified that during his detention he was unable to take his hypertension treatment and as a result his health suffered. He described the conditions of the police cells. The place was overcrowded. There was no bed or place to sit.
“According to him he was never offered food during the first two days of his detention. He got a little food on the third day. During his detention he had very little interaction with the outside world, including his wife.”
Colyn was held in custody for 28 days before his release on bail and described his experience as “traumatic”. Swanepoel and Kruger were detained for the same number of days.
He said “he has lost his self-esteem and has to rely on his wife for everything”.
Colyn told the court this was the only time he had been arrested. He said he would not wish what happened to him to happen to anybody.
The experience has made him withdraw from social activities, including attending church. “This as a result of the stigma attached to his arrest and detention and the false allegations levelled against him.”
In the first week of detention Ruan Swanepoel testified he didn’t eat. This was because he was booked out before breakfast was served and returned late in the afternoon after supper had been served
— Acting Johannesburg high court judge Tebogo Thupaatlase
He consults a doctor monthly after his arrest but not a psychologist as he does not want to relive what happened.
Swanepoel, who is Colyn's nephew, detailed his detention at several police stations during the bail application. He was a teenager at the time of his arrest.
“He testified that in the first week their case was postponed for a bail hearing and he didn’t eat. This was because he was booked out early, before breakfast was served, and returned late in the afternoon after supper had been served.
“He estimated he did not eat for about six days as a result of missing meal times,” according to the judgment.
In one of the detention centres there were two rival groups who fought about everything, including food rations. He was afraid of them after some spoke about the murders they had committed.
Swanepoel said the incident “has left a psychological scar” and spoke of the stigma he felt was attached to his name. He said he experiences derision from some people who recognise him from pictures published in the media.
Colyn's daughter Kruger, who was 20 when she was arrested, said “she felt like she was treated like an animal even though she was innocent”.
On one occasion soon after the murders, she was grilled by about 11 police officers trying to force her to confess. She was taken to court in leg chains and was handcuffed. She was moved between police cells where conditions were filthy before being sent to a Johannesburg correctional facility.
“Every time she returned to the cells at the prison after attending court, she was strip-searched in the presence of four male officers. She was having her menstruation cycle and she had to remove her underwear so they could see that she did not have any hidden items with her. During the search she felt helpless and ashamed.”
She was intimidated by the large crowd of people whenever they appeared in court, saying people hurled insults at them and branded them racist murderers.
Considering the amount of damages to award, the court noted the “unbearable” and “degrading” conditions to which the trio were subjected.
“They were given small food rations or no food at all on some days. They had to wash with cold water and endure filthy and unhygienic cells. In addition, the cells at the police stations and the Johannesburg correctional facility held an excess number of inmates. The blankets were filthy, or no blankets or place to sleep was provided.
“The plaintiffs were unlawfully detained for 28 days. During that time they were subjected to humiliation whenever they appeared in court. It is not disputed their case received widespread media attention,” the judgment noted.
Thupaatlase said: “Sight must not be lost of the fact that the liberty of the individual is one of the fundamental rights of a human being in a free society, which should be jealously guarded at all times and there is a duty on the courts to preserve this right against infringement.
“Unlawful arrest and detention constitute a serious inroad into the freedom and rights of an individual. Where members of the police transgressed in that regard, the victim of abuse is entitled to be compensated in full measure for any humiliation and indignity which resulted.”
Colyn was awarded R500,000 for unlawful arrest and unlawful detention, Kruger was awarded R100,000 for unlawful deprivation of freedom and R500,000 for unlawful arrest and detention. Swanepoel was awarded R500,000 for unlawful arrest, deprivation of liberty and detention.
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