He'd give his gold teeth for justice: R200m claim against cops after 'malicious arrest'

In his heyday as a property magnate and scrap metal dealer, Gerhard  Kruger drove a Porsche 930 Turbo and a De Tomaso Pantera and wined and dined at the best food outlets.

But now he says he is in such dire straits that he has removed two of his four gold teeth with pliers and sold them  for cash.

Kruger says it has taken more than 15 years for him  to prove in the Durban High Court that he was maliciously arrested, charged and detained for eight days at Westville Prison in May 2002.

The charges relating to the theft of copper cables, and the possession of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, an AK47 and a grenade, were withdrawn in the Durban Magistrate’s Court about a year after he was arrested by police officers from outside KwaZulu-Natal.

In the Durban High Court in December 2016 Judge Graham Lopes  ruled that the Minister of Police and the Minister of Justice were liable for more than R200-million in damages claimed by Kruger.

See the full story on Times Select.