Police appeal Lincoln case
THE Police Ministry has approached the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for special leave to appeal against a Western Cape High Court judgment giving top cop Major-General André Lincoln the right to sue the State for damages and malicious investigations that had been conducted against him.
Lincoln’s legal representative, advocate Johnny Nortje, has said they will oppose the application.
Police planned to appeal on the basis that they had both reasonable grounds for success, and would argue special circumstances, according to the provincial police head of legal and policy services, Felix Mbeki, in an affidavit attached to the SCA notice of motion to appeal.
Last month the high court upheld Lincoln’s appeal lawsuit against the Police Ministry.
He had set out to claim R15 million in damages for malicious investigations initiated against him when he was the head of then-president Nelson Mandela’s Presidential Investigation Task Unit (Pitu) in 1997.
Lincoln’s unit was tasked to investigate Italian mafioso Vito Roberto Palazzolo’s links with government officials.
Palazzolo had been brought to the country by the National Party, according to Lincoln’s testimony, and although the unit was doing covert work it couldn’t use the secret fund meant for covert operations because the police commissioner who had a close association with Palazzolo had access to information involving the secret fund.