Police ministry to cough up after foreign national’s unlawful detention

THE Police Ministry has to cough up R300 000 plus interest after a foreign national was unlawfully arrested and detained on allegations that he had produced false documentation when trying to get a new SIM card.

Geophonse Mabiala, a Congolese man employed as a fire marshal on a valid asylum seeker temporary permit, was awarded the order in the Western Cape High Court.

Mabiala has lived in South Africa since 2004.

On June 11, 2013, he had attempted to do a SIM swap for his phone, and had gone to a SAPS kiosk to obtain an affidavit.

But during this process, a SAPS officer believed Mabiala might’ve been an illegal immigrant, and the police officer wanted to verify his documentation.

Mabiala discovered that he had left his permit at home.

The policeman then spotted “a small, credit-card sized document issued to him by the DHA in KwaSani in KwaZulu Natal”, grabbed the card and “accused him of being a Nigerian fraudster”.

Judge Patrick Gamble’s judgment read: “Believing that the plaintiff might be an illegal immigrant and had fraudulently used a document to verify his identity, the SAPS officer ordered him to remain present behind the counter at the booth while the status of the document was verified with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). As a consequence of discussions with an official of the DHA, (Mabiala) was arrested and taken by police van to the Cape Town Central Police Station where he was held in custody.”

Mabiala appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court two days after his arrest on a charge relating to the alleged illegality of his presence in South Africa.

“Mabiala was not released from custody immediately but was held for a further 7 days in the police cells at Cape Town Central. On his second appearance … Mabiala was granted bail in the amount of R500 and he was subsequently released from custody. At a later appearance on August 29, 2013 the charges against the plaintiff were withdrawn,” the judgment read.

Mabiala then issued a summons against the police ministry for a damages claim of R460 000 for his unlawful arrest for which the arresting peace officer could not produce any evidence for the alleged fraud.

Judge Gamble said: “The facts in this matter relating to Mabiala’s incarceration at Cape Town Central show that this was his first ever arrest and detention. During that time he was kept in a filthy cell for a week, alongside a communal toilet with little more than spare rations for nourishment. The plaintiff said he was subjected to threats from members of Cape Town’s notorious “Numbers’ Gangs”, was involved in a physical altercation and described his experience generally as harrowing.”

Judge Gamble awarded a cost of R300 000 to Mabiala with the police ministry having to pay interest on the aforesaid sum from the date of judgment to the date of payment. Enquiries to the police ministry were not answered by deadline.