- A Gauteng man was awarded R900 000 after his unlawful arrest in 2016.
- The man was arrested in connection with a robbery at a Pick 'n Pay.
- The Gauteng High Court found that the man's prosecution was unlawful.
A Gauteng man arrested five years ago without evidence linking him to a robbery at a Pick 'n Pay has won R900 000 in damages.
Stanley Shabalala was arrested in 2016 and detained for a year at the Diepkloof police station on a charge of business robbery.
But now, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has found that Shabalala's prosecution was unlawful.
Acting Judge Dario Dosio said based on the evidence presented, he could not find that a reasonable and probable cause for the arrest and prosecution existed.
"Accordingly, the conduct of the prosecution in instigating the prosecution was wrongful. As a result, I am convinced that the plaintiff has proved the requirements of malicious prosecution," he said in his ruling.
Shabalala was arrested at the Pick 'n Pay and kept in custody at the Johannesburg Central Prison after appearing in the Orlando Magistrate Court in Soweto on 29 April 2016.
He was refused bail; however, after numerous postponements and due to the non-attendance of witnesses at the trial proceedings, he was released in March 2017 when the case was withdrawn.
After his release, Shabalala sued the Minister of Police, alleging that police acted maliciously in that they persisted in arresting him even though he denied the accusations against him. He also said there was no evidence linking him to the robbery.
According to the judgment, a Colonel Nzimande had testified that on 27 April 2016, he had received a telephone call from Pick 'n Pay whilst attending to another arrest at Roots butchery.
The manager of the Pick 'n Pay had informed him that one of the cashiers had identified Shabalala as one of the robbers.
He also said the CCTV footage at the store was not clear and could not identify the suspect. Still, he arrested him without asking him questions about the robbery.
Shabalala had also testified that the police were not interested in his version.
Store
Dosio said: "Colonel Nzimande did not ask the cashier, Violet Thobela, to point out the suspect who had allegedly robbed the store three weeks before. Despite this failure, Colonel Nzimande arrested and detained the plaintiff.
"There is no evidence that Colonel Nzimande or the investigating officer interviewed Violet Thobela to clarify the identification of the plaintiff or that Violet Thobela attended an identification parade to confirm the identity of the suspect."
The judge added: "If we are to give meaning to freedom as a foundational value of our Constitution and to the right to freedom and security of the person, we cannot allow the police to deprive people of their freedom by so simple a stratagem as behaving in the egregious manner in which they did here and then lying low and keeping quiet to see if anything will come to the rescue of the victims of their nefarious deeds.
"If we allow that to happen, then police - like they did before the advent of our democracy - will continue to ride rough shod over the freedoms of our people.
"So, generally in circumstances like the present public policy dictates that delictual liability must attach, lest we find ourselves in a situation where freedom as a constitutional value and the right to freedom and security of the person are devalued."