Hawks man to sue police

Thirty hours of alleged abuse in a filthy police holding cell could result in a top detective quitting after 26 years on the force.

Lawyers for respected Hawks captain Cornelius Pettit, who has been involved in some of the biggest criminal busts in the Eastern Cape, said this week that he had been treated so badly that he no longer wanted to be associated with the police.

Pettit, 45, was arrested while working undercover in Pretoria earlier this month. He and an informant were meeting suspected illegal gold dealers in Sunnyside when Pretoria police swooped.

He and the informant were detained but the Sunnyside police let the suspects go. The evidence obtained by Pettit during the meeting with the gold dealers is believed to have been compromised by the arresting officer.

Sunnyside police and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Pettit's lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, alleges that the police brutally assaulted Pettit, refused to feed him while he was in detention and stole almost R20000 from him.

Pettit - whom Mthethwa recently commended for refusing a R2-million bribe in a drug bust in Port Elizabeth - has received medical treatment for injuries to both arms, which are still scarred and bruised. He has been booked off work and is seeking psychiatric treatment for trauma.

Sunnyside police allegedly told the 20 other detainees in Pettit's cell that he was a police officer, which, his lawyer said, put his life in danger. The allegations are the latest in a string of accusations of brutality levelled against the police since the Marikana shootings last year.

Last month, South Africans were horrified by images of Mozambican Mido Macia being dragged behind a police van. He is alleged to have been beaten by the police and died from his injuries. Griebenow said Pettit will sue the police minister for unlawful arrest.

According to Griebenow, when Pettit pleaded with his arresting officer to contact his unit commander in Port Elizabeth to clear up the situation, the officer refused and instead subjected him to more abuse.

Griebenow said he and his client were waiting for reports from Pettit's psychiatrist, after which they planned to sue for damages of hundreds of thousands of rands.

Pettit was arrested at the Cubana restaurant in Sunnyside, Pretoria.

According to Griebenow, as one of the suspects handed Pettit a bag - which he later found contained pieces of brass disguised as gold - more than 10 police officers stormed into the restaurant.

"They immediately started accusing me of dealing in drugs," Pettit said in his written statement. "I identified myself to them as a police officer but they refused to listen."

According to the statement, police confiscated his firearm, police appointment certificate and Hawks business card before handcuffing him.

In the police van on the way to the Sunnyside police station, an officer asked Pettit if he was carrying money. About R20000 in cash was allegedly taken from Pettit.

He has not seen the money since and it was not booked as evidence.

"Our client's integrity as a police officer has been severely jeopardised," Griebenow said.