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Minister of Police and Others v Phoka (14823/2021) [2025] ZAGPJHC 562 (5 June 2025)
The High Court refused leave to appeal, holding that police should have investigated a 13-year-old suspect's criminal capacity before arresting him, and awarded costs.
Simba v Minister of Police (80/2021) [2024] ZANCHC 69; 2024 (2) SACR 430 (NCK) (26 July 2024)
The High Court held that the plaintiff’s arrest and detention were lawful because officials had reasonable grounds to believe he lacked valid immigration status.
Papana and Others v Minister of Police - Appeal Judgment (CA47/2022) [2023] ZAECMKHC 82 (8 August 2023)
The court found that the appellants' arrest was lawful, as conceded by their counsel and supported by uncontested evidence. However, the trial court misdirected itself regarding the lawfulness of the detention period at court from 08h00 to 12h00 on 27 July 2020, which was not justified by any intervening event and remained unlawful. The administrative processing justified detention only until 14h00 on 25 July 2020. The trial court further erred in differentiating damages between male and female appellants without cogent reason and in considering the cumulative award's impact on the public pur…
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Koopman v Minister of Police (72988/17) [2022] ZAGPPHC 675 (6 September 2022)
The High Court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against a damages judgment, finding no reasonable prospects of success and no compelling reason to hear the appeal.
Pelle v Minister of Police and Others (27525/14) [2022] ZAGPJHC 432 (28 June 2022)
High Court trial on unlawful arrest, detention, and malicious prosecution claims; the court held the arrest lawful and dismissed the action with costs.
Nhlapo v Minster of Police and Another (204/2020) [2022] ZAFSHC 87 (11 May 2022)
The court found that the arresting officer, Mokanyane, was a peace officer who acted on credible information provided by the complainant and the investigating officer. The circumstances surrounding the identification of the cattle, the plaintiff's failure to provide proof of purchase, and the fresh branding of the cattle supported a reasonable suspicion of stock theft. The jurisdictional requirements for a lawful arrest without a warrant under section 40(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act were satisfied. The court held that the arrest was not unlawful and that the plaintiff's claim for damag…
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Malinga v Minister of Police (A3115/2016) [2021] ZAGPJHC 858 (22 July 2021)
The High Court upheld an appeal for damages after finding the arrest for alleged perjury unlawful because the arresting officer lacked the required Schedule 1 suspicion.
Michaels v Minister of Police and Another (1697/2016) [2021] ZAECPEHC 30 (6 May 2021)
The court found that the initial arrest and detention of the plaintiff were lawful, as the arresting officer acted on reasonable suspicion based on a photo identification parade, despite its equivocal nature. However, the subsequent detention from 5 January 2015 onwards was unlawful. Both the police and prosecution failed to bring the weaknesses in the identification evidence to the attention of the court, misled the magistrate at the bail application, and neglected to arrange a proper identification parade. The plaintiff was detained for over a year in dire conditions due to the negligence o…
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Kulati v Minister of Police (2459/2017) [2020] ZAECPEHC 6 (18 February 2020)
The court found that the plaintiff's arrest was lawful under section 40(1)(h) of the Criminal Procedure Act, as the arresting officer had a reasonable suspicion based on the plaintiff's conduct and the discovery of a mandrax tablet. However, the continued detention of the plaintiff from 08h00 on 15 April to 13h00 on 18 April 2017 was unlawful because the police failed to consider and facilitate prosecutorial bail, as required by section 59A of the Act. The police's failure to exercise their discretion and bring the matter to the prosecutor resulted in an unjustified deprivation of liberty. Th…
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Ndabeni v Port St Johns Municipality and Another (2803/2016) [2017] ZAECMHC 52 (5 December 2017)
The High Court dismissed a malicious prosecution claim arising from an arrest over alleged illegal sand mining, finding no proof that the second defendant instigated the prosecution.
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