ZELDA VENTER
In a case which reminds one of an action movie, two taxi drivers, who were arrested and detained for a long time following the kidnapping and killing of gang members in Mpumalanga, together lodged a damages claim against the police and the prosecuting authority totalling R40 million.
But the High Court in Mpumalanga, sitting in Mbombela, ruled against the pair as it was found the police and the National Director of Public Prosecutions simply did their job in arresting and prosecuting them.
Sibusiso Malaza and Innocent Mdluli turned to the court after the trial court earlier acquitted them on the charges they faced.
The community of Nhlazatshe in Mpumalanga had been on the receiving end of a gang known as Wrong Turn. Things got out of hand when in February 2015, members of this gang turned their acts of terror on members of the local taxi industry.
Three taxi drivers were attacked at a local tavern one evening and fatally injured. Two of them were transported to the local hospital that night by Malaza. They died later that night.
The following day, in an act of fury and revenge by the taxi drivers, they sniffed out members of the Wrong Turn Gang, irrespective of whether they had taken part in the attacks of the night before or not.
Three of them were kidnapped and taken to the taxi rank where they were tortured and executed in vigilante style. Among those kidnapped was a certain Zinhle Bembe, who was said to be in a love relationship with a Wrong Turn Gang member.
Her role was to point out the residential addresses of members of this notorious gang. She was also forced to witness the kidnapping and assault of those who were thought to be Wrong Turn Gang members.
Bembe detailed the events that unfolded in her presence to the police and she implicated Malaza and Mdluli. This resulted in their arrest and prosecution on charges of kidnapping and murder.
In their damages claim, Malaza said he was unlawfully detained for 1 060 days and that he suffered damages and loss of income totalling just over R22m.
Mdluli, who was detained for 619 days, said he suffered damages and loss of income in excess of R18m.
The police meanwhile defended the matter and said following the mistrust in the community, the provincial head of the detectives assigned an officer to investigate the case. They also obtained Bembe’s statement.
She described how cars and taxis arrived at her house and asked her where her boyfriend - one of the gang members - was. She denied it was her boyfriend and said she did not know where he was.
She also described scenes how some of the taxi drivers ran into a house, firing a shot and how they came running out, holding a man only by his head and leg. Bembe said she was forced by the taxi drivers to drive around with them, looking for other gang members.
They found one member, who was hit on the head with a pick handle before being loading into a minibus.
She also described scenes where other suspected gang members were assaulted and pelted with stones while, according to her, police officers simply stood, watching. She also heard shots and Bembe said she saw the anger on some of the faces of the taxi drivers, which included the two claimants.
Malaza confirmed that there was a fight but he denied abducting or killing anyone. He said people voluntarily got into his taxi and he resumed his duties as a taxi driver.
Mdluli testified that he was present when there was an attack on taxi drivers by members of the Wrong Turn Gang. He was however not present the next day when those perceived to be members of this gang were rounded up, kidnapped and killed at the taxi rank, he said.
Judge Takalani Ratshibvumo said Bembe said about six members of the society had been murdered, three of whom in revenge by those who took the law into their hands.
The presence of Bembe at the time the members of the Wrong Turn Gang were being rounded up was confirmed by Malaza. There was therefore no basis for the police and members of the NPA to doubt the veracity of her statement, the judge said.
He found the SAPS and NPA did their jobs and in dismissing the claims, he said the only reason for Malaza and Mdluli to have instituted their claims was because their prosecution failed.
Pretoria News