The ministry of police has been ordered to pay more than R2m in damages to a KwaZulu-Natal game farmer for the wholesale slaughter of his animals by an angry mob while police stood by and did nothing to stop it.
“This case illustrates in stark terms the constitutional obligations of the state,” Durban high court judge Mokgere Masipa said in her judgment. “When individuals’ lives and property are threatened, and when the police are forewarned and present, a failure to act undermines the constitution.”
She said the police had permitted a “politically charged” assembly to proceed on private property and had subordinated the rights of the farmer, Arnold Raath, to “mob pressure”.
The incident took place in May 2015 — apparently sparked by the death of cattle owned by the Mdletshe community who believed Raath had poisoned them.
This was later proved to be untrue.
Raath, in his damages claim, said the police did nothing when the community members stormed his farm, destroying crops and machinery and brutally slaughtering 80 to 90 valuable animals with pangas, bush knives and knobkerries.
The ministry denied liability, contending police were focused on Raath’s safety and were overwhelmed by the scale of the protest.
Raath, in his evidence, said after the cattle which had strayed onto his farm were found dead, the police and SPCA officials attended the scene, intending to bury the carcasses. But the community objected, insisting that (then) MEC Cyril Xaba and the media be called.
Raath said the next day he was alerted to a planned protest. He called the Hluhluwe police station commander, a Col Ntuli, at least six times but only got a “dismissive” response.
A neighbouring farmer, Anton Louw, who saw the crowd chasing and killing animals, also called the police.
A farmworker testified he witnessed the slaughter. The police stood at the gate but did not act, he said.
Col Ntuli, in his evidence, admitted by the time he arrived the crowd had already begun assembling near the site of the dead cattle. His primary concern was the safety of Raath because he feared the crowd would attack the farmhouse. He claimed that from his position at the gate he did not see any animals being killed. He admitted he had sufficient manpower to intervene and acknowledged the public order policing unit, with riot control equipment, were present but were not deployed.
Masipa said Ntuli could not explain why he did not give an instruction earlier to disperse the crowd. She said his claim that he did not see the slaughter was “implausible”. Ntuli also conceded the allegations of poisoning were unfounded as was proved by laboratory tests on the carcasses.
Masipa said it was clear the police had the means — teargas, a water cannon, rubber bullets, shields and batons — to disperse the crowd but these were never used. Video footage clearly showed the police were not outnumbered. She said Raath and others repeatedly warned the police of the impending danger.
“I find that the omissions of the SAPS were wrongful and negligent,” Masipa said, ruling that Raath was entitled to damages of just more than R2m, with interest and costs.
TimesLIVE
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