Why the odds are against the police paying Khuli Chana R2,3 million

Hip-hop muso Khuli Chana is taking the cops on in a R2,3 million lawsuit claim which is set to see the musician attempt to get the police to acknowledge their mistakes and pay.

According to a parliamentary response issued by minister Nathi Mthethwa,  R7 billion in lawsuit claims have been brought against the police ministry.

This was for the 2011/12 financial year, in the 2012/13 financial year, the cops had to fork out R200 million in claims for 3773 cases.

It is a strong indication of the amount of lawsuits the police ministry faces. Artist Khuli Chana, real name Khulane Morule has now joined the queue of thousands of people seeking financial compensation for shootings, unlawful arrests, physical assault and damage to property by the police.

According to Africa Check.org, 10,552 claims were brought against police in 2011/2012.

"Of these, 562 claims were settled in court and R37.3 million was paid out. A further 553 claims were settled out of court with payments of R55.7 million. More than 8000 claims had not been dealt with by the end of the financial year," quoted the website.

The website further cites a R14 billion figure which it says the police were really facing as they merely rolled back certain cases to the next financial year. This is standard procedure in government institutions as they face a heavy back log and slow administration.

But how does this impact on Chana's situation? Since the incident occurred in which police officers mistook Chana for a suspect and shot at him nine times, the police have expressed reservations in acknowledging their mistake.

Instead, the SAPS said they had obtained evidence from witnesses, supporting their claim that he did not stop when flagged down, leading to the police mistaking him for a robber and shooting him.

The police sought to bring a case of attempted murder against Chana, in response to his case which was opened with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

However, a few months later the police and Chana reached a settlement agreement out of court and exchanged hugs in a public truce.

"I am happy I got my apology and commend everyone who made this possible...this was a huge interruption in my life and it gave me nightmares," he said.

"I think I can start having fun again, make hit songs and raise my daughter," said Chana.

But now it appears the settlement may have fallen through after Chana released a statement through his lawyers, stating he is suing for R2,3 million. According to The Star, he is suing for "permanent scarring and disfigurement", emotional trauma, psychological stress and shock, future medical expenses, future loss of earning capacity, "maliciously" claiming he "tried to kill them with his motor vehicle" and instituting an attempted murder case against him.

Although the police have confirmed the law suit, based on their track record of taking time to settle claims, poor administration and their slow acknowledgement of their role in the Chana debacle as well as their reneging on  an agreement with him, the odds may be against the star in bagging millions from the police.

Civilian cases settled by the police

• Mashudu Malema of Pretoria sued the police for wrongful arrest after they jailed her and her boyfriend who apparently drove a car drunk. Mashudu attempted to call her father, Mr Malema while taking video footage with her cellphone. This lead to an altercation with the cops who arrested her. She was awarded R65 000 from an original claim of  R300 000.
• Constables Goodwill Khoza, Boitumelo Nthekang and Thomas Rathebe received R80 000 and R120 000 for Nthekang after they were wrongfully arrested. Their original claim was R500 000 in damages.
• Ntantise Daniel Taliwe received R1,29 million after claiming for R10 million. He successfully sued when the police shot at him for no reason. Taliwe was unable to return to work and claimed damages for loss of income.

Additional sources: The Star, eNCA, Africa Check