Woman shot in the face had placed trust in her police reservist boyfriend

The Minister of Police should be held vicariously liable for the actions of an on-duty police reservist who shot his girlfriend in the face because as a citizen‚ she had placed her trust in him.

This was an argument brought by Gavin Dugmore SC‚ who represented Elsa Booysen in her application before the Constitutional Court‚ in which she wants it to hold the Minister of Police vicariously liable for her boyfriend's actions.

"He didn’t cease to be a policemen and she didn’t cease to be a citizen‚" argued Dugmore.

Constable Johannes Mongo shot and wounded Booysen‚ in 2013. He then killed himself. Mongo‚ from Pearston in the Eastern Cape‚ worked night shift.

On the day of the incident‚ he was dropped off by a police vehicle while on duty to have dinner with Booysen. He ate dinner and without warning drew his firearm and shot Booysen in the face‚ and then himself. She survived.

Mongo‚ according to Dugmore‚ breached the trust Booysen had in him.

"The evidence establishes that he was in uniform‚ he was dropped off by a police van...there was a reassuring aura of regularity because he is a policeman.

Dugmore argued that there were compelling constitutional reasons to acknowledge domestic violence as a problem.

"The evidence establishes that up to the very shooting where he says if I can’t have you‚ no one will."

Ben Ford SC for the Minister of Police‚ however‚ argued that the incident was a "domestic setting" and "it mattered not whether he was in uniform or he was on duty".

"It cannot be that just because a man is issued with a firearm and does something wrong with the firearm‚ therefore vicarious liability must follow.

"It can’t be that because you have a duty to not steal from me‚ and you steal‚ then I must be held vicariously liable‚" Ford argued.

He argued that no security guard or police officer can do their job without the use of firearm.

Ford argued that the argument Booysen should have brought forward was that the minister should have vetted Mongo to see if he had any history of domestic violence.

"She could never suggest that the minister is liable because he was in uniform.

"It boils down to…: does the issue of a firearm suffice to find vicarious liability‚ and if it is‚ then it is a scary situation for police officers and security guards.

"There has to be an allegation and evidence from the plaintiff that the minister is at fault‚” Ford argued.

The Constitutional Court reserved judgment in the matter.