Case Law[2023] ZAGPPHC 57South Africa
Mafanele v Minister of Police and Another (10179/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 57 (30 January 2023)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria)
30 January 2023
Judgment
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## Mafanele v Minister of Police and Another (10179/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 57 (30 January 2023)
Mafanele v Minister of Police and Another (10179/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 57 (30 January 2023)
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sino date 30 January 2023
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA)
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
CASE
NO: 10179/2021
(1)
REPORTABLE: NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3)
REVISED.
DATE: 30 JANUARY 2023
SIGNATURE
In
the matter between:
PATRICK MAFANELE
PLAINTIFF
and
MINISTER
OF POLICE
FIRST DEFENDANT
NATIONAL
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS
SECOND
DEFENDANT
JUDGMENT
LUKHAIMANE
AJ:
Introduction
[1]
This matter
concerns action proceedings instituted by the plaintiff against the
first
and
second
defendants
for
delictual
damages
arising
from
his
unlawful
arrest and
detention (claim 1) and malicious prosecution (claim 2) by members of
the first and second defendants.
[2]
The alleged
arrest was effected by members of the South African Police Services
(SAPS), the first defendant, without a warrant,
on 25 June 2020 in
Pretoria. It is alleged at the time of the arrest, the members
concerned were all acting within the course and
scope of their
employment.
[3]
By agreement
between the parties, pursuant to an application in terms of rule
33(4) of the Uniform Rules of Court, the trial before
me was only for
the merits of the claim, with the issue of quantum standing over for
later determination.
[4]
As per the
first defendant's initial plea, it was pleaded that:
-
The plaintiff,
a police officer with the rank of Constable and member of the
detective unit falling under the Sunnyside cluster,
Pretoria, was
arrested by members of the SAPS.
-
The arrest
took place on 25 June 2020 without a warrant.
-
The plaintiff
was lawfully arrested in terms of section 40(1)(b) of the Criminal
Procedure Act, 51 of 1977, (the Act) on charges
of corruption and
extortion.
-
The arresting
officer at the time had reasonable suspicion that the plaintiff had
committed the offences of corruption and extortion.
-
Pursuant to
the arrest, the plaintiff was detained and processed at Sunnyside
Police and later transferred to Tembisa for further
detention. He
appeared in court on 26 June 2020 and was released on bail of R1
000.00.
-
Thereafter the
plaintiff appeared in court on several occasions until 26 November
2020 when the charges were withdrawn.
[5]
It is pleaded
on behalf of the second defendant that the institution of the
criminal proceedings against the plaintiff was for reasonable
and
probable cause as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had in its
possession at least minimum evidence upon which the plaintiff
might
have been convicted.
Further that,
members of the NPA honestly believed the plaintiff to be guilty of an
offence of corruption and extortion with which
he was charged.
[6]
In the amended
plea, the defendants pleaded as follows:
-
The defendants
plead specifically that the plaintiff was lawfully arrested in terms
of section 40(1)(a) of the Act for committing
the offence of
corruption and extortion in the presence of the police officers.
[7]
Plaintiff's
arrest
was
based
on
an
undercover operation
duly
authorised
in
terms of the
provisions of section 252A of the Act, which undercover operation was
conducted after the Anti-Corruption Unit of the
SAPS in Gauteng
received a complaint that the plaintiff is suspected of soliciting
money from the complainant in exchange of avoiding
arrest and
removing the complainant's fingerprints from the SAPS records.
# Issuestobedecidedupon
Issues
to
be
decided
upon
[8]
This court is
now called upon to decide the following issues:
-
The lawfulness
of the arrest and detention; and
-
The
lawfulness
of
the
plaintiff's
prosecution
and
proceedings
instituted
against him by members of the defendants.
Onus
[9]
The first
defendant bears the onus of proving the lawfulness of the arrest and
detention of the plaintiff, whilst the plaintiff
bears the onus in
respect of the malicious prosecution.
# Evidence
Evidence
[10]
Plaintiff
testified that he is a police officer stationed at Sunnyside, now
Warrant officer.
He has been
with the SAPS since 1 August 2000. He was on duty on 25 June
2020.
Docket 2504/2020
was booked out to him on the system.
During the
Covid 19 period, he had dockets of approximately 70 accused persons,
some of whom were not attending court and as a result
had warrants of
arrest issued and stayed.
Nathaniel
Judas, the complainant, was one of those accused whose warrant was
issued and stayed on 15 April 2020 during his first
appearance for
violating lockdown restrictions -
and stayed
again on 12 May 2020.
[11]
The plaintiff
alleges that the docket as it stands is incomplete as some of his
entries are missing.
It was his job
to pursue the complainant and, in that regard, he called the
complainant regularly to advise him to go to court.
The plaintiff
testified that he was never given the warrant for the complainant and
when the
matter
was last on the roll on 20 August 2020, he was no longer the
investigating officer.
The plaintiff
testified that he used both his landline and cell phone to contact
the complainant.
His last
contact with the complainant was on Monday 22 June 2020.
[12]
On 25 June
2020, the complainant contacted him indicating that the document
proving that his matter was finalised in court was with
his brother.
As per
agreement, the complainant called plaintiff on his way back from
Silverton - they arranged to meet. Plaintiff saw that the
complainant
did not have the document.
The plaintiff
indicated that when he noticed some suspicious movement around his
car, he thought a robbery was about to take place,
he only relaxed
when the persons identified themselves as police officers (two
females and five males).
[13]
He was then
pulled out of the car and asked where the money was.
The plaintiff
indicated that he had no money.
He was cuffed
and heard someone utter the words "ashi, ashi re e kreile".
After the
plaintiff signed for the R100 x 5 and the fact that the notes
correspond with the photocopies, he was cuffed on both hands.
[14]
Plaintiff
testified that whilst he considered himself to be under arrest, he
does not remember being warned accordingly.
At the
Sunnyside Police Station, he was put in the holding cells.
Plaintiff
testified that he believes that his role as a shop steward for the
South African Police Union (SAPU) is what precipitated
the arrest.
He was read
his rights at the Sunnyside Police Station.
His cell phone
was taken as section 205 Exhibit.
Thereafter
plaintiff testified that he was taken to Tembisa Police Station.
[15]
Plaintiff
testified that he appeared in court the next day and was granted R1
000 bail.
Matter was
postponed to 31 July 2020 for proof of the section 252A authorisation
and section 205 evidence.
The matter was
finally 'withdrawn on merits' in November 2020.
Plaintiff
testified that the complainant had disappeared,
left his flat
and his mobile phone was no longer available.
[16]
Under
cross-examination, the plaintiff conceded that he was arrested
outside the complainant's flat.
Although the
complainant's address is on the docket, the plaintiff testified that
he only knew the address after the complainant
relayed it to him.
The plaintiff
could not explain why if the police station was only 120 metres away
from the complainant's flat, he could not just
ask the complainant to
bring the documents proving the finalisation of his matter to the
police station. The plaintiff then conceded
having met the
complainant at Roman's Pizza and the complainant's flat twice.
[17]
The plaintiff
denied having asked the complainant for R500 so that the warrant is
not executed and his fingerprints are removed
from the SAPS records.
[18]
The plaintiff
again suggested that his colleagues must have been behind his arrest.
He conceded that he cannot say whether the R100
x 5 notes were found
in his car or not, but that the discovery was after the complainant
had exited his vehicle.
[19]
When
confronted with the statement the complainant deposed on 24 June
2022, the plaintiff denied having made any arrangement with
the
complainant. The plaintiff conceded that the complainant does not
have a motive to implicate him.
This then is
the totality of the plaintiff's evidence.
# Sergeant
Phineas Tshwaredi Seopa
Sergeant
Phineas Tshwaredi Seopa
[20]
Sergeant Seopa
testified that he has been a police officer for 18 years. He is
stationed at the Provincial Anticorruption Unit in
Germiston.
He was present
on 25 June 2020 during a section 252A operation.
They received
a complaint and took a statement from the complainant stating that
when he went to look for his brother at Sunnyside
Police Station, he
was arrested and the investigating officer demanded R500 saying he
had a warrant for his arrest.
[21]
He took the
statement on 24 June 2020. He asked Colonel Matlabo to get verbal
authorisation for a section 252A as it was urgent.
On 25 June 2020 he
applied for the section 252A money -
R500. He
received the funds at about 10h00. He informed members via WhatsApp
that they will meet at Sunnyside. The complainant had
phoned him to
say the plaintiff talked to him that morning that he will come and
fetch the money.
He met with
the team at Sasol garage. Officers Makamu, Molepo and Mohlala were
amongst those present.
[22]
He introduced
the complainant to the others and searched him. After verifying that
the complainant had no money on him, he gave
him the R500, compared
with the photocopies to confirm that they matched.
They agreed
with the complainant
that
he
will
signal
by
taking
his
mask
off
when
he
has
given
the
plaintiff
the cash.
[23]
The
complainant
called the
plaintiff
and
informed
him
that the funds
cleared.
The
complainant went to his flat whilst the team was always observing
him. Plaintiff arrived in a red car. From where he was sitting
in the
car with Sergeant Mokatswa, he could see other members of the team.
Makamu informed the team via WhatsApp that the complainant
is in
plaintiff's car, then sent a message that the money was taken by the
plaintiff.
[24]
Him and Makamu
approached plaintiff's car and Makamu informed the plaintiff that
they need to search him.
He could not
find the money on the plaintiff. Sergeant Molepo searched the car and
found the money. He testified that the plaintiff
was standing,
shocked and trembling.
Thereafter he
took out copies of the money to compare and then the plaintiff signed
the copies there and then. The plaintiff was
then arrested for
corruption and extortion.
[25]
They drove
with the plaintiff to Pretoria Central where the plaintiff retrieved
Sunnyside CAS 04/2020 docket.
The warrant
for the complainant was not in the docket.
The plaintiff
was then detained in Tembisa. On 26 June 2020, the plaintiff appeared
in court and was granted R1 000 bail.
Seopa
finalised his evidence-in-chief by stating that he knew of the
section 252A authorisation as Colonel Matlabo had confirmed
it to him
and they opted for it instead of a warrant because of the urgency of
the matter
.
[26]
Under
cross-examination, he indicated that he is not certain as to how the
Anti Corruption Unit received the complaint.
After meeting
with the complainant in Pretoria, he completed his statement in the
office in Germiston.
Colonel
Matlabo sent a message to Captain Sithole, the coordinator for
section 252A authorisation.
Colonel
Matlabo sent confirmation of authorisation to WhatsApp group.
[27]
After the
money was recovered, the plaintiff was arrested.
He denied that
the plaintiff was handcuffed in the one hand, indicating that
plaintiff was only handcuffed by Sergeant Makamu when
they were
leaving for Pretoria Central Police Station.
He indicated
that he last saw the complainant on 25 June 2020 when he entered his
flat.
[28]
He finally
testified that the plaintiff was detained at Tembisa because that is
the police station they knew and they did not consider
where he
resided because visiting hours had already passed at 11am.
He testified
that they did not investigate the plaintiff's cell phone records
ahead of his arrest because they decided on a section
252A instead.
[29]
Under
re-examination he clarified that although the authorisation was
received via text, they refer to it as verbal authorisation
and that
the authorisation process forms part of the investigation.
Sergeant
Ramasela Lindy Molepo
[30]
Sergeant
Molepo testified that she has been a police officer for 18 years.
At the time of
the plaintiff's arrest, she was an investigator with the
Anticorruption Unit in Germiston.
She received a
WhatsApp message to meet at Sasol garage from Sergeant Seopa for a
section 252A undercover operation.
When they got
there, they were briefed about the complainant.
Sergeant Seopa
searched the complainant, gave him R500 and showed him the copies of
the notes.
It
was also agreed as to how the complainant would signal that the
plaintiff has taken the money.
[31]
Then they
proceeded as a team to the complainant's
flat. She was
with Sergeant Mohlala behind a wall whilst Sergeant Makamu was in
front of the complainant's flat.
Sergeant
Makamu confirmed that the maroon Polo vehicle was the complainant's.
When they
received a message that plaintiff has taken the money, they
approached the vehicle.
Her other
colleagues had already opened the driver's door and asked the
complainant where the money was. Sergeant Molepo approached
the
complainant who informed her that the money was in the storage
compartment in front of the gear. She found the money, approached
Sergeant Seopa, who had the copies, and the complainant to compare
the money to the copies. Once it was confirmed as a match, Sergeant
Seopa sealed it.
[32)
Under
cross-examination, she denied that she was the one who uttered the
words "ashi, ashi ... " as heard by the plaintiff.
She also
denied that the plaintiff was in handcuffs and forced to sign for the
compared notes.
# AdvocateV Nemaorani
Advocate
V Nemaorani
[33]
Advocate
Nemaorani
is the
Deputy
Director
Public
Prosecutions
from
2007.
From
2012, he also serves as the Coordinator for the Organised Crime
Component including section 252A of the Act. He testified that
he
received a WhatsApp communication from Captain Sithole requesting
authorisation for a section 252A, which he considered on 24
June 2020
and granted.
He explained
the section 252A authorisation process and indicated that if a
request was urgent, an SMS or WhatsApp may be sent and
in line with
the guidelines, the request will be approved and confirmed later in
writing.
He
conceded that there was a typing error on paragraph 3 of the letter
dated 24 July 2020; it should have
read
24
June
2020.
# Captain
Makamu
Captain
Makamu
[34]
Captain Makamu
testified that he has been a police officer for 16 years.
In June 2020,
he was with the Anti-Corruption Unit stationed in Germiston.
On 25 June
2020, he was monitoring the movements of the complainant after he was
given money by Sergeant Seopa.
They had been
briefed of the complaint before they left the office.
He testified
that Sergeant Seopa asked the complainant if he had any money on him,
searched him and then handed him the R500 notes
after counting it and
comparing it with the copies.
[35]
He confirmed
that he was present when plaintiff was arrested by Sergeant Seopa,
that he was with Sergeant Mkatshwa.
They had
opened the bonnet of their vehicle, pretending to fix it.
They observed
the complainant approach red Polo vehicle of plaintiff, get inside
passenger side and then coming out after approximately
five minutes
then removing mask.
He sent the
WhatsApp message to signal that the money was taken.
[36]
He ran to
plaintiff's car, put hand through open driver's window, switched off
the vehicle engine. He identified himself and instructed
the
plaintiff to get out of the car so that he can search him.
When they did
not find any money on the plaintiff, he requested to search car.
The money was
found in the ashtray/cubby hole area by Sergeant Molepo.
Thereafter, he
handcuffed the plaintiff
.
[37]
He confirmed
that the plaintiff was charged, his fingerprints taken and he
appeared in court.
[38]
Under
cross-examination, he confirmed that the plaintiff's telephone was
taken for a section 205 investigation -
information
was only downloaded from it and thereafter it was booked back at
Sunnyside Police Station.
# AdvocateJacobson
Advocate
Jacobson
[39]
Advocate
Jacobson is a Senior Public Prosecutor. On 26 June 2020 she was
working at Court 16 as Manager of that Reception Court.
She confirmed
that the investigating officer has implemented some of the
prosecutor's instructions including the section 205 which
has been
confirmed.
[40]
She confirmed
that the matter was provisionally withdrawn on 28 November 2022 to
obtain the correct authorisation document from
Advocate Nemaorani.
The correct authorisation was received but before the matter could be
referred to the OPP for further instructions,
the file was taken by
the Civil Manager until the week preceding the start of these
proceedings.
She indicated
that she still believes that the plaintiff has a case to answer,
hence the matter was summarised and referred to the
OPP.
She reiterated
that court 16 is extremely busy, with between 30-65 cases a day.
There were
never instructions for the matter to be withdrawn and that such
instructions would have been on a J15 form.
[41]
Under
cross-examination, she testified that she confirmed that the
authorisation was from Advocate Nemaorani.
She also
indicated that there was nothing untoward with the plaintiff being in
possession of his cell phone as they had downloaded
the information
for the section 205 and did not need it for mapping.
[42]
This then was
the totality of the evidence presented on behalf of the first and
second defendants.
# ApplicableLaw
Applicable
Law
[43]
It is trite
that an arrest or detention is
prima
faciewrongful.
The
defendant bears the
onus
of
alleging and proving that an arrest or detention was lawful.
When the
arrest or detention is admitted the onus is on the State to prove
lawfulness. That is the position in this instance.
[44]
Section
40(1)(a) of the Act provides police officers with extraordinary
powers of arrest.
It
requires that a factual situation must exist which justifies an
arrest.
It
does not however require a reasonable suspicion which requires the
application of an objective standard.
However,
neither good faith nor a reasonable mistake would help, i.e. absent
the particular factual situation, being a crime committed,
or
attempted to be committed, in his presence, a police officer may not
effect an arrest.
At
the time of the arrest, the arresting officer(s) must have personal
knowledge of the conduct and facts relevant, this test being
objective.
[1]
Therefore, the
following must be established:
o
The arresting
officer is a peace officer;
o
An offence
committed or an attempt;
o
The said
offence or attempt must be in the peace officer's presence.
[45]
In
Scheepers (supra), it was indicated that section 40(1)(a) requires a
determination of whether the facts observed by the arresting
officer
"as a matter of law
prima
facie
establish
the commission of the offence in question".
The
arresting officers may also act on reasonable inferences
[2]
.
He
may therefore consider what he observed before the arrest and the
surrounding circumstances.
[46]
In this
matter, the common cause facts are set out above as to the
plaintiff's
arrest
outside the complainant's flat.
[47]
This is the
crucial moment of arrest and it was an arrest flowing from the
arresting officer's observations and the section 252A
operation. It
is the plaintiff's own evidence that he was outside the complainant's
flat to collect documents that would indicate
that the complainant's
court matter has been finalised.
[48]
To
establish the essential factors justifying the arrest under section
40(1)(a),
Stellenbosch
Farmers' Winery Group Ltd and Another v Martell et Cie and Others
[3]
finds
application.
[49]
Plaintiff
was
observed
in
his
car,
waiting
for
the
complainant
to
join
him.
According
to the evidence of the police officers who had good demeanour
throughout, the complainant joined plaintiff in the car
and after a
few minutes, gave the police officers the agreed upon signal of
removing his mask from his face to indicate that the
plaintiff has
taken the R500.00 from him.
The officers
approached the vehicle, instructed the plaintiff to get out of the
vehicle and proceeded to search him.
When they
could not find the money on him, one of the officers approached the
complainant who at that stage was a bit away from
the plaintiffs
vehicle.
The
police officer came back and searched in front of the gear where the
R500 was found. This was after they had questioned the
plaintiff on
where the money was and he had indicated that he knows nothing of
such. The plaintiff was shown the money, which he
signed for on the
copies as being the same notes.
[50]
The plaintiff
if of the view that both Sergeant Matlabo and Captain Sithole should
have been called to testify.
It is the
finding of the court that the documentary evidence in the form of the
docket and the evidence from the first defendant's
witnesses were
sufficient and therefore it was unnecessary for these two officers
that only got involved in the administrative
facilitation of the
section 252A operation to testify.
No negative
inference is drawn from such failure to testify.
[51]
The plaintiff
could not explain why he went to the complainant's flat, which was
only 150 metres from the police station, instead
of demanding that
the complainant brings the documents indicating that his matter was
finalised to the police station.
What makes
this even more inexplicable, is that the plaintiff was returning to
the complainant's flat for the second time that morning,
when he was
arrested.
The
plaintiff could not explain why if he was in possession of the
docket, such document indicating the finalisation of the
complainant's
matter was not therein.
The court has
said the following regarding witness testimony:
'the
proper test is not whether a witness is truthful or indeed reliable
in all that he says, but whether on a balance of probabilities
the
essential features of the story he tells are true'
[4]
[52]
Given that the
complainant had laid a complaint against the plaintiff and there was
prior agreement in line with the section 252A
operation that the
complainant would give a signal by removing his mask once the
plaintiff had accepted the money; once this happened
and the funds
were recovered from the vehicle, the police officers had reasonable
grounds or
suspicions
that the
plaintiff had committed an offence.
Whilst
Sergeant Matlabo might have given the instructions to investigate,
apply for a section 252Aauthorisation, conduct the operation
and
apprehend the suspect; at the point that the plaintiff was placed
under arrest, there were reasonable grounds or suspicions
that he had
committed the offences of extortion and corruption.
[53]
As for the
alleged hearsay evidence by Sergeant Seopa relating to the interview
with the complainant for purposes of taking down
his statement on 24
June 2020, it is not necessary for the court to pronounce on this as
the line of questioning was abandoned
and the complainant's statement
was admitted into evidence as all parties testified that his
whereabouts are unknown.
[54]
In the result,
this court finds the arrest to have been lawfully effected in terms
of section 40(1)(a) of the Act.
[55]
It is
unnecessary for the court to consider the plaintiff's theories as to
the motives for the section 252A as plaintiff offered
no evidence of
a conspiracy by his superiors or those in management at SAPS because
of his role as SAPU shop steward.
Although
plaintiff kept peppering his evidence with suggestions, conjectures
and innuendos, in often long-winded answers that led
him to even
neglect to answer the questions asked, plaintiff offered no evidence
at all.
I
will deal with the section 252A authorisation later
.
[56]
Although the
complainant was not called by the first defendant to testify, the
circumstances
are such that
his statement was available and both plaintiff and the defendants
admitted that they could not get hold of the complainant
from
immediately
after the
arrest -
his
cellular telephone was no longer in use and he was no longer at his
place of residence.
[57]
Therefore,
this is not a case where a complainant was readily available but not
called as a witness.
[58]
Plaintiff was
only detained overnight for purposes of appearing in court the next
day.
There
was nothing untoward about the period of detention nor the
circumstances surrounding such detention.
As per
testimony of Sergeant Makamu, visiting hours were already over,
therefore there was nothing untoward about detaining him
at Tembisa
Police Station.
Section 50(1)
of the Act authorises the police to bring a suspect to the police
station after the arrest. If the police do not release
the suspect,
he must be detained until he appears in court.
In this
instance the evidence is that the plaintiff appeared in court the
following day.
Therefore, the
detention was lawful.
[59]
In addition to
the unlawful arrest, plaintiff also has a claim for malicious
prosecution.
To succeed
with such a claim, plaintiff must allege and prove that
(i)
the defendants
set the law in
motion,
they
investigated
and instituted
the
proceedings; (ii) the defendants acted without reasonable and
probable cause;
(ii)
they acted
with malice, and (iv) the prosecution failed.
[60]
It is common
cause that the criminal charges against the complainant were
withdrawn on merits on 26 November 2020.
Plaintiff only
testified that the matter was withdrawn on merits and no one has
presented any evidence to this court as to the reason
why the charges
were withdrawn. It is the plaintiff's case that members of the first
defendant wrongfully and maliciously set the
law in motion by
arresting, charging and detaining him. He then further alleges that
both members of the first and second defendants
participated in his
malicious prosecution.
[61]
There was no
evidence presented before this court that members of the defendants
acted with malice or that they failed to perform
their duties, powers
and functions in good faith from the arrest, to the opening of the
docket, to the court appearances.
Therefore, for
this court to find otherwise would be contrary to the case as pleaded
by the plaintiff and against the common evidence
presented before
this court that the arrest of the plaintiff was preceded by an
authorised section 252A operation wherein the police
officers
observed him committing a crime.
[62)
Much was made
of the section 252A authorisation process.
However, both
Advocate Nemaorani and Advocate Jacobson were able to explain in
detail how a section 252A authorisation is granted
and the
circumstances under which a verbal authorisation (granted via
WhatsApp) may be granted. It was also clear from Advocate
Nemaorani's
evidence that the formal letter for the section 252A authorisation
did indeed have a typing error with reference to
the date.
The plaintiff,
whist alleging that this was a fabricated authorisation after the
fact, could not provide any evidence in that regard.
Meanwhile from
the reading of the entire letter, Advocate Nemaorani's evidence
appears most probable.
Both Advocate
Nemaorani and Advocate Jacobson were found to be credible witnesses.
They spent
considerable time under cross-examination meticulously explaining the
processes and procedures that were followed in
this matter and in
their duties in general.
[63]
Therefore,
there is no indication on the evidence that the defendants were moved
by any intention other than to have the plaintiff
stand trial on the
charges against him and to bring him to justice.
To
succeed on a claim for malicious prosecution, a plaintiff must prove
all four elements listed above.
The
plaintiff failed in proving malice on the part of the defendants.
Negligence on the part of the defendants, even gross negligence,
is
not sufficient.
[5]
()
[64]
The
complainant lodged a complaint which was relayed to the
Anti-Corruption Unit.
The
Anti-Corruption Unit set in motion a section 252A operation and the
plaintiff was arrested, which arrest took place after observing
the
plaintiff's actions, receiving the signal from the complainant and
recovering the money used in the operation from the plaintiff's
car.
Therefore, it cannot be argued that the first defendant acted with
malice and without probable and reasonable cause.
[65]
As regards the
second defendant, both Advocate Nemaorani and Advocate Jacobson
testified in great length as to the section 252A
authorisation
procedure and the goings-on in the Pretoria Magistrates Court once
the matter was enrolled.
Several
instructions from the Prosecutor for further investigations are in
the docket, some of which have been carried out by members
of the
first defendant.
Advocate
Jacobson testified that she is unsure as to why the matter was
withdrawn on merits on 29 November 2020, as she continues
to believe
that the plaintiff has a case to answer, which has been interrupted
by the current proceedings.
The evidence
before this court indicates that from the notes in the docket, there
were several issues that were in the process of
being investigated
and outstanding when the matter was withdrawn on 29 November 2020,
some of these have since been completed.
As a
consequence, I am left with no option but to conclude that the
plaintiff has failed to discharge the onus resting
on
him
regarding
a
claim
for
malicious
prosecution
against
both
defendants.
# Order
Order
[66]
In the
circumstances, the plaintiff's claims are dismissed with costs.
M
A LUKHAIMANE
ACTING
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION,
PRETORIA
Appearances:
On
behalf of the applicant: Adv P Dube
Instructed
by:Tshuketana Attorneys
On
behalf of the respondent:Adv MS Phaswane
Instructed
by
:
The
State Attorney
Date
of hearing: 31 October 2022
Date
of judgment:
30
January 2023
[1]
Scheepers
v Minister of Safety and Security 2015 (1) SACR (ECG) [17] and [18]
[2]
Minister
of Justice and Others v Tsose
1950 (3) SA 88
(T)
[3]
2003(1)
SA 11 (SCA) at 14-15
[4]
Santam
BPK V Biddulph
2004 (5) SA 586
(SCA) PARA [10]
[5]
Minister
of Justice and Constitutional Development v Moleko
[2008] 3 All SA
47
(SC) at paragraph 64
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