A Uitenhage teenager who was held for four days for being in possession of half a Mandrax pill has been awarded almost R130,000 in compensation for his “unlawful” detention.
Acting judge Mickey Mfenyana, in a ruling handed down last week, found that police should have released Olwethu Kulati on bail, but instead turned a blind eye while he sat in a cell over the Easter weekend on a petty drug charge — because he did not ask to be let go.
Kulati, who was arrested by the South African police services on April 14 2017, won his case in Port Elizabeth with Mfenyana ruling that he be compensated for damages to the tune of R128,000.
Kulati, who was 18 at the time, was arrested for being in possession of Mandrax in Soga Street in KwaNobuhle.
Mfenyana ordered that the police ministry compensate Kulati for the days he was held in custody. But whether Kulati is a Mandrax addict or just someone with an insatiable appetite for vetkoek depends on who you believe.
Policeman Kobus Allers testified that on the day of the arrest in 2017, he’d seen Kulati leaving a known drug den in KwaNobuhle.
According to Allers, he chased the accused with a fellow police officer and when they caught up with him, the plaintiff threw away a matchbox with half a Mandrax tablet inside.
But lawyers for Kulati proclaimed his innocence, asking the court to rule that both the arrest and his detention were unlawful, seeking compensation of R500,000 for the ordeal.
They said police had no cause to arrest the teen who had merely gone into the drug den to buy vetkoek.
“It is rather surprising that he [Kulati] did not have anything in his possession, not even the vetkoek he went to buy,” Mfenyana said.
The judge ruled that the arrest itself had been lawful, with Allers acting on a reasonable suspicion that Kulati had bought drugs, compounded by the fact that he had run when he’d seen the police.
“He [the policeman] found a Mandrax tablet, or what appeared to be Mandrax, in Kulati’s possession after seeing him coming out of a drug den,” he said. But the bone of contention, according to the judge, was what the police did after effecting the arrest.
Mfenyana found that the police had finished their investigation on the same day of the arrest and could have ensured Kulati was released, preventing “a further infringement of his right to liberty”.
“It was the responsibility of the police to determine Kulati’s eligibility for bail and bring his matter to the attention of the prosecutor ... the police had an obligation to inform him of his right to be released on bail, including prosecutorial bail, and bring his matter to the attention of the prosecutor within a reasonable time.”
He ordered that the state pay Kulati R128,000 for the four days he was held in custody before his release.
Uitenhage man gets R130k for bungled drug bust
Image: Supplied
A Uitenhage teenager who was held for four days for being in possession of half a Mandrax pill has been awarded almost R130,000 in compensation for his “unlawful” detention.
Acting judge Mickey Mfenyana, in a ruling handed down last week, found that police should have released Olwethu Kulati on bail, but instead turned a blind eye while he sat in a cell over the Easter weekend on a petty drug charge — because he did not ask to be let go.
Kulati, who was arrested by the South African police services on April 14 2017, won his case in Port Elizabeth with Mfenyana ruling that he be compensated for damages to the tune of R128,000.
Kulati, who was 18 at the time, was arrested for being in possession of Mandrax in Soga Street in KwaNobuhle.
Mfenyana ordered that the police ministry compensate Kulati for the days he was held in custody. But whether Kulati is a Mandrax addict or just someone with an insatiable appetite for vetkoek depends on who you believe.
Policeman Kobus Allers testified that on the day of the arrest in 2017, he’d seen Kulati leaving a known drug den in KwaNobuhle.
According to Allers, he chased the accused with a fellow police officer and when they caught up with him, the plaintiff threw away a matchbox with half a Mandrax tablet inside.
But lawyers for Kulati proclaimed his innocence, asking the court to rule that both the arrest and his detention were unlawful, seeking compensation of R500,000 for the ordeal.
They said police had no cause to arrest the teen who had merely gone into the drug den to buy vetkoek.
“It is rather surprising that he [Kulati] did not have anything in his possession, not even the vetkoek he went to buy,” Mfenyana said.
The judge ruled that the arrest itself had been lawful, with Allers acting on a reasonable suspicion that Kulati had bought drugs, compounded by the fact that he had run when he’d seen the police.
“He [the policeman] found a Mandrax tablet, or what appeared to be Mandrax, in Kulati’s possession after seeing him coming out of a drug den,” he said. But the bone of contention, according to the judge, was what the police did after effecting the arrest.
Mfenyana found that the police had finished their investigation on the same day of the arrest and could have ensured Kulati was released, preventing “a further infringement of his right to liberty”.
“It was the responsibility of the police to determine Kulati’s eligibility for bail and bring his matter to the attention of the prosecutor ... the police had an obligation to inform him of his right to be released on bail, including prosecutorial bail, and bring his matter to the attention of the prosecutor within a reasonable time.”
He ordered that the state pay Kulati R128,000 for the four days he was held in custody before his release.
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