Polokwane court awards R1.5m after man detained 16 months following flawed rape probe

A Polokwane High Court full bench has ordered the Minister of Police to pay R1.5 million to a man, identified in court papers as TC, after finding he was unlawfully arrested and detained for 492 days because the investigating officer relied on the man’s previous rape conviction instead of conducting a proper investigation.

How the arrest unfolded

The appeal concerned TC’s arrest in September 2020 over allegations that he had raped and robbed a schoolgirl near Moletji in August 2020. The complainant told police she had been walking to school when a man allegedly demanded her cellphone at knifepoint and then forced her behind a mountain where he raped her. She reported the incident to school staff, who contacted the police.

About a week after the alleged attack the complainant said she saw the suspected attacker in a cream-white BMW. A friend of the complainant later told her where the man lived; the friend provided a formal statement only several months after TC’s arrest.

Police visited the identified home and spoke to TC’s mother, who confirmed his identity. TC handed himself in to police after learning investigators were looking for him. Sergeant Teffo, the investigating officer, discovered TC’s prior rape conviction and, according to the judgment, that conviction strengthened his belief that TC should be arrested.

Court findings on investigation and arrest

The full bench found that Sergeant Teffo’s decision-making was improperly influenced by TC’s criminal history and that the officer effectively curtailed further investigation after discovering the previous conviction instead of gathering sufficient evidence to establish reasonable grounds for arrest. The judges held that the requirements for a lawful warrantless arrest had not been satisfied.

The court highlighted several weaknesses in the investigation, including that the complainant’s friend only gave a formal statement months after the arrest and that the investigating officer therefore lacked crucial supporting evidence at the time of arrest. The court also noted that TC had presented himself voluntarily at the police station and said the police could have questioned and charged him without detaining him while further inquiries continued.

Judge Jane Tsakane Ngobeni said relying primarily on previous convictions when deciding whether to arrest a suspect would create a dangerous precedent and stated that individuals cannot be judged solely on the basis of their past conduct.

Detention conditions and damages

TC described harsh detention conditions during the appeal. He said he spent three months in police holding cells without beds, sleeping on the floor with a dirty blanket infested with bed bugs, with foul-smelling toilets, no running water and non-working showers. He was later held at the Polokwane Correctional Service Centre for about one year and three months during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he received a single face mask.

TC sought R18.45 million in damages based on a daily tariff for his detention, but the High Court rejected a mechanical approach to assessment. The judges applied the established principle that compensation must reflect the unique facts of the case. In reaching the R1.5 million award the court considered the investigating officer’s lack of malice, TC’s lengthy detention, the poor conditions of his confinement, his personal circumstances and the fact that TC had surrendered voluntarily.

The full bench set aside an earlier High Court judgment that had dismissed TC’s claim, upheld his appeal, and ordered the Minister of Police to pay R1.5 million together with interest from July 2024 until payment, and to pay the legal costs of the application.

Liability and legal reasoning

The court rejected the Minister of Police’s argument that liability ended after TC’s first court appearance. Relying on Constitutional Court precedent cited in the judgment, the bench held that because the unlawful arrest set the chain of events in motion, the Minister remained liable for the full period of detention, from September 2020 until TC’s release in March 2022.

This report is based solely on the judgment and facts set out in the court record as reported.