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South Africa decisions
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Damon v Minister of Police (308/2015) [2020] ZANCHC 40 (25 June 2020)
High Court judgment on liability for injuries suffered by a detainee assaulted in police custody, with the unlawful arrest claim dismissed for pleadings defects.
S v Mbuli and Others (SS35/2010) [2011] ZAWCHC 232 (21 May 2011)
The Court found that the State's evidence was of poor quality, highly contradictory, and insufficient to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the accused assaulted the deceased or the complainants. The medical evidence did not conclusively link the fatal injury to the actions of any accused. The accused, as police officers, had a duty of care towards the deceased, but there was no evidence that they were aware of the fatal injury or that their conduct amounted to culpable homicide. The application for discharge under section 174 was granted for counts 2, 3, and 4, and the accused were acqui…
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Botha and Another v Minister of Safety and Security (20614/2008) [2010] ZAGPPHC 600 (7 May 2010)
The High Court held the police liable after failing to search or disarm a threatened, licensed firearm holder who later shot and killed the deceased.
S v Govender and Others (254/03) [2004] ZASCA 34; [2004] 2 All SA 259 (SCA); 2004 (2) SACR 381 (SCA) (31 March 2004)
The Supreme Court of Appeal found that the deceased was free of injuries when handed over to the appellants, as confirmed by police records and testimony. The injuries sustained by the deceased, including extensive bruising and blunt force trauma, could not be explained by a single fall but were consistent with a sustained beating while in the custody of the appellants. The court rejected the defence version, including the evidence of Sipho Mhlongo, as untenable and false. Each appellant was found to have either participated in the fatal assault, associated themselves with it on the basis of…
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Van Eeden v Minister of Safety and Security (176/01) [2002] ZASCA 132; [2002] 4 All SA 346 (SCA); 2003 (1) SA 389 (SCA) (27 September 2002)
The Supreme Court of Appeal held that the police owed the appellant a legal duty to act positively to prevent the escape of a known dangerous criminal, Mohamed, who subsequently harmed her. This duty arises from the constitutional imperatives to protect individuals from violence, particularly women, as entrenched in sections 12(1)(c), 7(2), and 205(3) of the Constitution. The Court rejected the respondent's argument that liability should be limited by requiring a special relationship or by public policy concerns about limitless liability. Instead, it adopted an open-ended and flexible approac…
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