Case Law[2025] ZAGPJHC 214South Africa
Van Ross v Minster of Police (2020/38012) [2025] ZAGPJHC 214 (4 March 2025)
High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Johannesburg)
4 March 2025
Judgment
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# South Africa: South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg
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## Van Ross v Minster of Police (2020/38012) [2025] ZAGPJHC 214 (4 March 2025)
Van Ross v Minster of Police (2020/38012) [2025] ZAGPJHC 214 (4 March 2025)
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sino date 4 March 2025
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REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
(GAUTENG
DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG)
CASE
NO:
2020/38012
(1) REPORTABLE: NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3) REVISED. NO
DATE: 04/03/2025
SIGNATURE:
In the matter between:
LIZETTE
CONAMIE VAN ROSS
Plaintiff
and
MINISTER
OF
POLICE
Defendant
DELIVERED
:
This judgment was handed down
electronically by circulation to the parties’ legal
representatives by e mail and publication
on CaseLines. The date
and time for hand-down is deemed to be 10h00 on 28 February 2025.
JUDGMENT
VELE AJ
Introduction
[1]
The plaintiff has issued summons against the Defendant for the
recovery of the sum of R 200 000.00,
being damages that she suffered
as a result of the unlawful arrest and detention she encountered at
the instance of the members
of the South African Police Services
(SAPS), who were at the time acting within the cause and scope of
their employment with the
defendant. The Plaintiff was arrested on 30
August 2020 and released from custody on 31 August 2020, without
appearing in court.
The defendant entered an appearance to defendant
and pleaded that the arrest and detention were lawful.
[2]
As the defendant alleged that the arrest and detention were lawful,
he attracted the duty to begin and
the burden of proof in terms of
Rule 39 (9) of the Uniform Rules.
Factual background
[3]
The following aspects were common cause between the parties. The
plaintiff complied with section 3 of
Institution of Legal Proceedings
Against Certain Organs of the State Act 40 of 2002 and
State
Liability Act 20 of 1957
.
The citation and locus standi of the
parties is not in dispute.
[4]
The plaintiff handed herself over at Randfontein Police Station on 30
August 2020 at around 13H00, after
the police did not find her at
home during their visit. The plaintiff was arrested without a warrant
of arrest. The police officer
who arrested her acted within cause and
scope of his employment with the defendant. The plaintiff was
detained until 31 August
2020, when she was released at the court
cells without appearing before a magistrate.
Issues
[5]
In dispute is the unlawfulness of the arrest and detention, as well
as the quantum. The times of arrest
and release are also in dispute.
Defendant’s
Evidence
[6]
Since the defendant is alleging that the arrest and detention were
lawful, he attracted the onus and
the duty to begin. The defendant
led the evidence of Sergeant Samuel Sekhosana (Sgt Sekhosana) who
testified that he is a police
officer in the employ of the SAPS,
holding the rank of a Sergeant, with 22 years working experience and
stationed at Randfontein
police station. His duties entailed
investigating case dockets and attending crime scenes, in and around
Randfontein. On 30 August
2020 at around 13H00, he was on duty and
deployed to the Crime Office, when the plaintiff arrived and
introduced herself as Ms
Lizette Van Ross and informed him that
police were looking for her at her home on 28 August 2020, whilst at
work in connection
with a docket that was opened against her.
[7]
Sgt Sekhosana perused the docket and found that statement A1
implicated her in an assault with intent
to do grievous bodily harm
(GBH), wherein Ms Zhan Erasmus was the complaint. He further perused
the form J88 which reflected the
injuries sustained by the
complainant. He arrested her after satisfying himself that she indeed
was the person mentioned in the
docket. He informed her of her rights
before detaining her, without any injuries. Whilst inside the cells,
he read her of her rights
as set out in SAP 14 Rights Form and she
confirmed she understood before signing and handing her a copy
Exhibit “A”.
His reason for detaining her was for her to
be taken to court.
[8]
Sgt Sekhosana was cross examined and confirmed that the plaintiff did
not inform him that she committed
the offence, but stated she came in
as police were looking for her. He further stated that she told him
she was present at the
scene. He further stated that the plaintiff
elected to exercise her right to remain silent, as she indicated she
was going to give
her version in court. He did not include the fact
that, she said she was present, as it was his arrest statement not
the suspect
statement. He confirmed that he perused the form J88 and
confirmed that the clinical findings were that the victim suffered
minor
bruises on the eye. He further stated that he considered two
J88 forms, the other being that of Ms Phillips. He confirmed that the
offence she was suspected of having committed was a Schedule 1
offence. Since it was assault GBH and not common assault, he had
no
discretion to release her on warning, but to arrest and detain
pending the decision.
[9]
Sgt Sekhosana testified that he was not aware of the Instructions
relating to Arrest and detention of
suspects issued and signed by the
National Commissioner of SAPS, Commissioner Sithole, on 19 November
2019
[1]
which provides
guidelines to be followed in arresting and detention of suspects. He
was presented with a copy. Instruction AG 1(b)
of the Instructions,
is directing the Commanders to refrain from instructing members to
arrest people for minor offences, in instances
where the police
officers have no jurisdiction, like common assault, in following
instances
:
“
(i) where there no
warrant of arrest issued,
(ii) assaults not
committed in the presence of the arresting officer,
(iii) assault that did
not take place in the cause of domestic violence incident, and the
member has no reasonable belief that the
victim is in danger of
imminent harm if the perpetrator is not arrested.”
[10] Sgt
Sekhosana further testified that he had a reasonable suspicion that a
Schedule 1 offence in the form of assault
with intent to do grievous
bodily harm was committed and relied on section 40 of the Criminal
Procedure Act 51 of 1977 (Criminal
Procedure Act). He had no
discretion as this was an assault GHB matter, which he could not
issue a written notice to appear in
court for. He did not consider
releasing her on bail or warning as he merely arrested her not
charged her. As to what transpired
after handing her over to the
cells for detention is in the domain of the Cells Commander, Sgt
Sekhosana could not testify as to
the condition of the cells, but
gave a brief description thereof.
[11] Sgt
Sekhosana denied that notice of right was not read to the plaintiff,
stating that he initially verbally explained
and then read them in
the cells area from the Notice of Rights in terms of the
Constitution,
[2]
that she signed
after indicating she understood and was given a copy. He further
stated that he had no comment regarding the fact
that she was given
dry bread and black tea for both supper and breakfast the following
morning, as his duties were discharged when
he handed her over at the
cells.
[12] Sgt
Sekhosana was re-examined and stated that his decision to arrest was
the correct one in the circumstances,
as the charge of assault GHB
may be converted into attempted murder. He further stated his duties
seized after he detained the
plaintiff.
Plaintiff’s
Evidence
[13] The
plaintiff gave evidence that she is currently 32 years old, residing
at house number 1[…] M[...] Street,
Toekomsrus, in Randfontein
and employed by Stock Counter since 2013. On 30 August 2020, she
visited the local police station, after
receiving a message from her
grandfather that police officers were looking for her. She heard that
someone opened a case against
her, though she was not involved. She
denied informing Sgt Sekhosana that she assaulted someone, saying she
informed him she was
there for the case of Erasmus and the Steyn
family. Sgt Sekhosana confirmed that her name appeared on the
statement inside the
docket.
[14] the
plaintiff further denied that the Notice of Rights was read to her,
stating she was just handed the copy and
then detained. She confirmed
that she informed the police officer that she would make a statement
in court. She was never informed
that she could apply for bail. She
was detained in appalling conditions, as the cell was dirty and
overcrowded, as they were seven
in a small cell. She was provided
with one dirty blanket and a very thin mattress. The toilet facility
was without a door, had
no toilet paper and filthy. The shower only
had cold water, so she did not bath before going to court the
following morning. She
further stated that once at court, she was not
provided with food, though released at 16H30. She was released
without appearing
in court. She was aggrieved by the arrest, as she
did not appear in court. She also felt embarrassed as she had to
inform her supervisor
(at work) that she was arrested.
[15] During
cross examination, the plaintiff denied assaulting the complainant.
She testified that her reason for handing
herself in at the police
station was to clear her name but not admission of guilt. She
confirmed that the other two suspects were
her aunt and grandmother.
She denied being present when the assault took place. She was
referred to paragraph two of the complainant
statement to the police
which reads
: “On Wednesday 20-08-2020 at about 21H30, I was
at my residential place with my friend Larich, she had an argument
with Lizette
and her family intervened. They insulted my friend and
the assaulted her with kicking in the face and one was hitting her
with
a cell-phone.”
She had no reply thereto, as she merely
said she was not present.
[16] The
plaintiff confirmed that she informed the police that she was going
to give her evidence in court, as she elected
to remain silent. She
had no answer to the statement that she went to the police to clear
her name but elected to exercise her
right to remain silent. She
denied that rights document was read to her and stated that she could
not read and understand English
very well. She was further not being
truthful when she stated that bail rights were not explained to her,
as the “Bail Information”
form that she was referred to
had information that could only have been provided by her, like her
marital status and children for
example. She was referred to
paragraph 7.2 of the amended particulars of claim, which reflects
that she was released from court
at 15H30, not 16H30 as per her
evidence, to this she had no clear answer.
[17] The
plaintiff was re-examined and denied that Sgt Sekhosana spoke to her
in Afrikaans. This was not canvassed with
him to get his response.
She repeated that she went to the police station in order to prove
her innocence.
[18] In reply
to the court’s question about the COVID 19 Regulations lockdown
and court hours regulations, she
changed her tune and stated she was
not sure of the time she was released as she did not have a watch.
Analysis of Evidence
[19] The
Court is faced with two mutually destructive versions of which if it
accepts the one it should dismiss the
other as false. In this regard
the Court refers to the following cases:
a.
Selamolela
v. Makhado,
[3]
b.
Mabona
and another v. Minister of Law and order and others
[4]
c.
Ramakulukusha
v. The Commander Venda National Force
[5]
[20] The
defendant’s witness, Sgt Sekhosana, gave his evidence in a
cool, calm and collected fashion. He did not
contradict himself on
material aspects, though he was evasive at times. His evidence was
not much of assistance, as he indicated
that he merely arrested her
and the decision to detain was taken by Warrant Officer Mathabathe,
who took the warning statement
and charged her. The defendant made an
election to close the defence case without calling Warrant Officer
Mathabathe, the officer
who decided to charge the plaintiff to come
and state as to what factors he took into consideration when he
decided to detain her
.
[21] The
defendant was fully aware of the fact that, the plaintiff in
paragraph 7 of her particulars of claim, alleged
that she was subject
to inhumane treatment in the cells, as cell was filthy, overcrowded,
with no privacy when inside the toilet.
The Cell Commander on the
shift was not called to testify on the condition of the cells. As for
Sgt Sekhosana, he was very evasive
in this regard referring
everything to the Cell Commander.
[22] The
plaintiff was a very evasive witness, who failed to answer simple
questions. Her demeanour was that of someone
who had something to
hide. She was hell bound in trying to deceive the court, as though
she could read English fluently, she wanted
to create an impression
that she was unable to follow the proceedings. In many instances, she
was ready to answer as soon as the
question was put to her, without
waiting for it to be interpreted, an indication that she was
following. She tried to deny being
informed about the option to make
a statement to the police officer or the make one in court. She
indicated that she was not familiar
with the process, yet her option
to give evidence in court, was exercised, an indication that the
rights were explained.
[23] The time
of her release from custody, kept on changing from 15H30, 16H30 to
not sure. When asked by the court as
to why she was kept at court
until 16H30, as it was during lockdown and the court operating under
COVID 19 Regulations with no
trial matters proceeding. She had no
answer, she later conceded she was not sure of the time of release,
as she had no means to
check the time. If so, why choose 16H30 of all
the times?
[24] The
plaintiff’s personal information, she is 32 years old, and
resided with the Steyn family, her maternal
family members at the
time of the incident. All we know from her evidence is, she was
employed by Stock Counters at time of incident,
which is contradicted
by the pleadings. There is no information about her highest academic
achievement, whether she is married
or not, and if she has children.
She is not claiming for loss of income as a result of being
incarcerated. She did not give any
explanation why she alleged that
she was humiliated as she did not say how many people saw her being
arrested and how far was this
spread. Interesting enough is that the
plaintiff stated that she informed the police officer the name of the
complainant but failed
to explain how did she get hold of this
information, as she denied being present, though when Sergeant
Sekhosana testified that
she told him she was present but did not
take part in the assault was never challenged. She was referred to
the complainant’s
statement and had no clear answer to the fact
that she was the central figure of the commotion.
[25] She
indicated that she was subjected to inhumane treatment whilst in
custody as she was placed in a cell with six
other persons, given a
thin mattress and a dirty blanket. She was given dry slices of bread
and black tea for both supper and breakfast.
The cell had no privacy
as the toilet had no door. Though the defendant was aware that it is
her case that she was ill-treated,
which is disputed, no witness to
testify about the condition of the cells was called and no reason
whatsoever was advanced in this
regard.
[26] The
defendant did not call the person who took the decision to charge the
plaintiff, to give reasons as why less
stringent measures to ensure
her attendance in court were not followed as per the directions of
the National Commissioner that
were already almost a year in
operation at the time. Since the police officer was not present when
the offence was committed, and
that she voluntarily came to the
police station, why not issue her with the notice to appear, or at
least fix her either police
or prosecutor’s bail? When one
considers the fact that the only injuries sustained by the complaint,
as reflected on the
J88 was a small bruise above the eye of 2
Centimetres by 2 centimetres and no other injuries recorded. Clearly
Sergeant Sekhosana
did not apply his mind, when he decided to detain
the plaintiff, as he disregarded the provisions of both section 40 of
the CPA
and the standing Instructions of the National Commissioner.
[27] Sgt
Sekhosana acted against the Instruction AG8 which provides any arrest
without a warrant in instances that are
outside
sections 40
and
42
(1)
of the
Criminal Procedure Act, will
be unlawful. If indeed correct
that he perused the docket and the Form J88, it would be clear that
the injuries were so minor not
to warrant the arrest of the
plaintiff, more especially under the circumstances where the
plaintiff brought herself in. He acted
in contrast to the provisions
of Instruction AG 10, which provide that where a suspect’s
attendance to court can be secured
by way of referring the matter to
public prosecutor to issue the summons to appear in terms
section 54
of the
Criminal Procedure Act, such
less stringent method should be
applied. The charging officer was not called, so we do not know what
he considered before deciding
to detain her. The plaintiff’s
arrest and detention could not be justified in the circumstances.
[28] Rabie CJ
placed the onus to prove that the arrest was lawful on the members of
the SAPS in
Minister
of Law and Order and Others v Hurley and Another
[6]
where the following appears:
“
An arrest
constitutes an interference with the liberty of the individual
concerned, and it therefore seems to be fair and just to
require that
the person who arrested or caused the arrest of another should bear
the onus of proving that his action was justified
in law.”
[29] Bosielo
JA in
Minister
of Safety and Security and Another v Swart
[7]
,
held the following:
“
It is rite that
the reasonableness of the suspicion of any arresting officer acting
under section 40(1)(b) must be approached objectively.
The question
is whether any reasonable person confronted with the same set of
facts, would form a suspicion that the person has
committed a
Schedule 1 offence.
M v Minister of Safety and Security
2009
(2) SACR 291
(GSJ)”
[30] The
current legal position is that an arrest or detention is prima facie
unlawful and the onus is on the defendant
to prove its lawfulness.
Since the defendant are relying on the provisions of
Section 40
of
the
Criminal Procedure Act, which
reads as follows:
“
Arrest by a
peace–officer without a warrant
40 (1) A peace Officer
may without a warrant arrest any person –
(a) …
….;
(b) “whom he
reasonably suspects of having committed a Schedule 1 offence, other
than the offence of escaping
from lawful custody; …”
(2) If a person may be
arrested under any law without a warrant and subject to conditions or
existence of circumstances set out
in that law, any peace officer may
without a warrant arrest such a person subject to such conditions or
circumstances.”
[31]
Section
40
of the
Criminal Procedure Act empowers
a peace officer to arrest a
person who commits an offence in his presence or a person, whom he
has a reasonable suspicion that
has committed an offence that is set
out in Schedule 1 thereof. In this regard the plaintiff was arrested
for allegedly assaulting
two complainants, which occurred in the
absence of the arresting officer.
[32] The
cumulative effect of the evidence before court, it is clear that
though Sgt Sekhosana acted without malice
as he indicated that he
arrested the plaintiff based on the evidence contained in the case
docket, his decision to arrest was ill
informed in the circumstances,
as he acted contrary to the Instructions Relating to Arrest and
Detention of Suspects,
[8]
issued
by then National Commissioner of Police of the SAPS which was enacted
following the Constitutional Court decision in
De
Klerk v Minister of Police
.
[9]
Under Instruction 5(b), officers are instructed to arrest without a
warrant for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm
only in
instances where a dangerous wound has been inflicted or an attempt to
inflicted a dangerous wound on the victim. It is
clear from his
arrest statement that he did not comply with Instruction 5(b) as it
did not contain all elements of the offence,
extent of the wound and
any other factor he based his belief that the wound was dangerous.
[33] To say
that the provisions of
section 50(1)(b)
of the
Criminal Procedure Act
were
followed, would be to strain the language and intention of the
Legislature, as it is clear that the police officer who arrest a
suspect without a warrant will be applying his/her discretion and
must comply with the requirements as set out in
Duncan
v Minister of Law and Order
[10]
,
especially the fourth aspect that require that suspicion must rest on
reasonable grounds.
[34] Sgt
Sekhosana perused the docket and saw the J88, and if he merely
applied his mind, he could have concluded that
less evasive method
like warning her for court the following day would have sufficed. He
did not follow the Instructions of the
National Commissioner that
were aimed at addressing this very aspect, as the assault was not
committed in his presence and the
injuries were so minor to qualify
for assault GBH. The above was reinforced by Harms DP in
Minister
of Safety and Security v Sekhoto and Another
[11]
wherein the following appears:
“
While the purpose
of arrest is to bring the suspect to trial, the arrestor has a
limited role in that process. Her or she is not
called upon to
determine whether the suspect ought to be detained pending a trial.
That is the role of the court. The purpose of
the arrest is no more
that to bring the suspect before the court. … Whether his
decision on that question is rational naturally
depends upon the
particular facts, but it is clear that in cases of serious crimes –
and those listed in Schedule 1 are serious.
… On the other
hand, there will be cases, particularly where the suspected offense
is relatively trivial, where the circumstances
are such that it would
clearly be irrational to arrest …”
[35] The
current case is the classic example, as the injuries were so trivial
that common assault should have been the
charge. In terms of
Instruction 5(f), since she had a fixed address, easily traceable,
and responded to the police visit to her
home (by coming in on her
own), Sgt Sekhosana could have ensured that the investigations were
completed and the docket handed over
to the public prosecutor to make
decision and issue the summons to appear in terms of
section 54
of
the
Criminal Procedure Act.
[36
] It is
clear that the defendant is wrongly relying on
section 40(1)(b)
which
reads as follows:
“
whom he reasonably
suspects of having committed a Schedule 1 offence, other than the
offence of escaping from lawful custody; …
.”
[37] Section
12 of the Constitution provides as follows:
“
Freedom and
Security of the person
12.(1) everyone has the
right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right
– (a) not to be deprived of
freedom arbitrarily or without just
cause;
(b) not to be detained
without trial;
(c) free from all forms
of violence from either public or private sources; …”
[38] The
plaintiff herein was guaranteed the right in section 12 of the
Constitution, which was without just any cause
curtailed and needs to
be appropriately compensated and looks upon the court to do right in
this regard. The court should, however
in its endeavour to achieve
this, not lose sight of the other aspects of compensation and
introduce a wholesale change. It is true
that this was a serious
infringement as a result of the arrest the plaintiff spent a night in
custody and further endured some
hours in court before she was
released without appearing, rendered the defendant liable for her
claim.
Quantum
[39] In as
far as the quantum is concerned; the court will take into
consideration the fact that there is no evidence
that the plaintiff
was subjected to inhumane treatment, though evidence is the cell
condition was sub-standard, and she was released
without appearing
before the court. In line with recent cases of the similar nature,
the court agrees that unlawful arrest and
detention were serious
violations of the individual’s rights, subject to compensation
being awarded.
[40] The
court refers to
May
v Union Government
[12]
where
the court emphasised the seriousness of the conduct that is unlawful
on the part of the police officers
.
The court further refers to the case of
Minister
Safety and Security v Seymour
[13]
where
an amount of R500 000.00 was reduced to R90 000. 00 as an
award for unlawful arrest and detention.
[41] In
Minister
of Safety and Security v Tyulu
[14]
the
respondent, a Magistrate, had his award reduced to the sum of
R15 000.00 by the Supreme Court of Appeal, compensating him
for
unlawful arrest and detention on the basis that the duration was for
a short period, despite his social standing and the manner
in which
the arrest took place.
[42] In
Olivier
v Minister of Safety and Security and Another
[15]
the plaintiff was a senior police officer who was arrested by the
police in full view of his colleagues then detained at the same
police station where he was employed. He claimed the sum of
R150 000.00 and was awarded R50 000.00 to the satisfaction
of all involved.
[43] It is
clear that in as far the general damages are concerned; the court
should treat each case on its own merits
taking into consideration
the general trend of similar cases. In this regard the court will
echo the words of Bosielo JA in
Tyulu
[16]
;
wherein the following was stated:
“
In the assessment
of damages for unlawful arrest and detention, it is important to bear
in mind that the primary purpose is not
to enrich the aggrieved party
but to offer him or her some much – needed solatium for his or
her injured feelings. It is
therefore crucial that serious attempts
be made to ensure that the damages awarded are commensurate with the
injury inflicted.
However, our courts should be astute to ensure that
the awards they make for such infractions reflect the importance of
the right
to personal liberty and the seriousness with which any
arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty is viewed in our law. I
readily
concede that it is impossible to determine an award of
damages for this kind of mathematical accuracy. Although it is always
helpful
to have regard to awards made in previous cases to serve as a
guide, such an approach if slavishly followed can prove to be
treacherous.
The correct approach is to have regard to all the facts
of the particular case and to determine the quantum of damages on
such
facts.”
[44] The
court further refers to the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal
in
Minister
of Police v Dlwathi
[17]
wherein the court held that the object of compensation of the victims
was more in solace for the wrong they have suffered than
to enrich
them.
[45] The
court further refers to the decision of this court per Wepenaar, J in
Sondlo v
Minister of Police
[18]
wherein the court raised its concern about the high awards granted
against minister of police, as this was paid out of public funds,
stating the awards should compensate for the wrongful action than
enrichment of victims.
[46] In this
regard the court refers to the work of the learned writers,
Neethling,
Potgieter and Visser
[19]
where the following was said regarding the factors that the court has
to consider when assessing the amounts that can be paid as
compensation for damages as follows:
“
factors which play
a role in the assessment of the amount of damages are the following :
the circumstances under which the deprivation
of the liberty
occurred, the presence or absence of malice or an improper motive on
the part of the defendant, the harsh conduct
of the defendant, the
duration of the deprivation of liberty, the social status and age of
the plaintiff, the fact that the plaintiff
was the author of his own
misfortune, the degree of publicity afforded to the deprivation of
liberty; and whether the defendant
has apologised or provides a
reasonable explanation for what happened. In addition, awards in
previous comparable judgments, following
the inflation, may be taken
into account.”
[47] The
social standing as well as family life of the plaintiff was not
canvassed. The plaintiff’s highest educational
level is not
canvassed.
[48] The
court has taken into consideration, all the factors as set out by the
authors
Neethling et al
above and the recent trends in case
law, the court finds that the compensation befitting to the plaintiff
herein is the sum of
R75 000.00, as it was clear that she was not
ill-treated in anyway.
Costs
[49] In as
far as costs are concerned, the court will follow the decision of the
Supreme Court of Appeal in
De
Klerk v Minister of Police
,
[20]
where the following appears:
“
With regard to
costs, although the total quantum awarded is far below the
jurisdiction of the high court, the matter concerned the
unlawful
deprivation of the appellant’s liberty and he was justified in
approaching the high court ...”
[50] The
court is inclined to award plaintiff costs on high court scale A, as
in the circumstances the lower courts,
could have granted her the
relief sought with less costs. The plaintiff’s claim was within
district court’s jurisdiction
as claim was for R200 000.00.
Order
[51]
In the result, I make the
following order:
1. The
Defendant is ordered to pay the Plaintiff damages in the sum of
R75 000, 00 (Seventy-Five Thousand
Rand only)
2. The
Defendant is ordered to pay interest at the prescribed rate of 10.25%
per annum on the aforesaid sum from
the date of summons.
3.
Costs of suit on High Court scale A, including counsel’s fees.
SO
VELE
ACTING
JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT
GAUTENG
DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG
APPEARANCES
Counsel for
Plaintiff:
Advocate L Swart
Instructed
by:
JJ Geldenhuys Attorneys
Counsel for Defendant:
Advocate MM Maphutha
Instructed
by:
State Attorney, Johannesburg
Date of Hearing:
28 January 2025
Date
of Judgement:
04 March 2025
[1]
Dated
2019/11/19 under Reference no 1/1/4/1.
[2]
Section
35 of Constitution of Republic of South Africa.
[3]
1988 (2) SA 372 (VSC)
[4]
1988 (2) SA 654 (SECLD)
[5]
1989 (2) SA 813 (VSC).
[6]
1986 (3) SA 568
(A) at 589 E–F
[7]
2012 (2) SACR 226
(SCA) at para 20.
[8]
Dated
2019/11/19 under Reference no 1/1/4/1
[9]
2021 (4) SA 585 (CC)
[10]
1986
(2) SA 805
(A)
at 818
[11]
2011
(1) SACR 315
(SCA)
at para 44
[12]
1954 (3) SA 120 (N).
[13]
2006 (6) SA 320 (SCA)
[14]
[2009] ZASCA 55
[15]
2009 (3) SA 434 (W)
[16]
Tyulu
at para 26
[17]
[2016] ZASCA 6
[18]
[2012] ZAGPJHC 14.
[19]
Neethling’s
Law of personality, Second Edition, Lexis Nexis, Butterworth,
Durban
,
2005 at p 121.
[20]
2018
(2) SACR 28
(SCA)
at para 18
.
sino noindex
make_database footer start
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