Two women are elated by a Pretoria high court ruling that ordered the police minister to pay them R172,000 in damages after upholding their appeal after being stopped by police late one night and extorted for “cooldrink” cash.
Helga Muller and Yolandi Bell had lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) the day after their ordeal on the evening of April 27 and early hours of April 28 2017 in Centurion.
They also claimed damages from police minister Bheki Cele for unlawful arrest, detention and extortion, but this was dismissed in December 2022. The Tshwane magistrate's court ruled the minister could not be held liable for the actions of the officers who had acted “in pursuit of their own selfish interests”.
This was overturned on appeal by the higher court, with judge Anthony Millar penning a majority judgment last week that ruled in their favour, finding they had proven a close enough connection between officers and the powers granted to them by their employment, which left Cele vicariously liable.
Despite the length of time the court cases took, Robert van Wyk, of Loubser Van Wyk Inc, said his clients were grateful with the final outcome and the amount awarded to them.
“They're both very, very happy.
“We've always felt that we had a very strong case, taking into consideration that Ms Muller actually reported this conduct and the bribery and solicitation of a bribe the following day to Ipid. That was never investigated further during the litigation process, and we were never placed in possession of a police case docket, hence we submitted the facts to court.”
However, he said, an official from the unit had contacted Muller about three weeks ago to get a further affidavit from her.
“It looks like there was life breathed into the investigation after this appeal was lodged,” Van Wyk said.
Ipid confirmed to TimesLIVE Premium its probe was still open, with spokesperson Phaladi Shuping saying: “I can confirm that Ipid is following up on this matter, and the investigation is ongoing.”
Shuping did not respond to queries on why the matter was taking so long to investigate.
In 2017, Muller and Bell were heading home in a car when two officers, a male and female, pulled them over.
“It was the late evening or early hours of the morning. While driving, [Muller] noticed a police vehicle behind her with its bright lights on. She put her hazard lights on to signal to them to switch off the bright lights as she could not look in her mirrors as their lights were blinding her. The bright lights on the police vehicle were switched off, and the blue lights were then switched on. She pulled her car over to the side of the road and remained in the car. Two police officers approached them.”
The female officer questioned Muller, who was the driver of the car. She said she was stationed at Hammanskraal but was in the area due to collaboration between her police station and Lyttelton aimed at tackling drunk driving. She instructed Muller to blow into a breathalyser. Muller was told the reading was 0.35. A suspicious Muller asked to see the reading for herself, but this was denied, and she was arrested for suspected drunken driving.
“Muller was told that she would have to go with the officer in the police vehicle and that the male police officer would drive her vehicle with Bell inside it.
“Muller asked her friend to phone her father and to bring her her cellphone. It was at this point that the female officer grabbed her by the arm and forcefully pulled her towards the police vehicle. A short while later, the male officer brought her phone to her.”
The next few hours were harrowing for Muller, according to the court papers, as the female officer drove around with her recklessly, skipping through red traffic lights.
She then told a bewildered Muller that she would not be taken to Lyttelton police station, one of the two nearest stations, but instead to Sunnyside. When the scared woman tried to contact her father, the officer told her “that no-one could help her except her [the officer]”.
The officer then allegedly negotiated a bribe, starting at R6,000 and eventually dropping it to R2,000. She again threatened to take Muller to Sunnyside if she failed to make the payment.
Now after the incident, I find myself, even if I drive past a traffic officer, I get panic attacks, and it is starting to affect my mental health to be honest.
— Helga Muller
Muller, in her evidence, said: “I started panicking because I know the Sunnyside area, and I was so scared that she would in fact take me there. I knew how dangerous it was there, and she kept on threatening me with it.”
They stopped in an open area, where the male policeman and Bell were also parked. “She said I can get into my car, go to the ATM because I have to come back with the R2,000, otherwise it is Sunnyside for me, and if I do not come back, she is going to take my friend to Sunnyside. So I should not have any ideas to leave.”
Muller did as instructed and returned to where the officers and Bell were waiting. She testified that when she got back, “I parked my car on the one side of the street, gave my keys to the male police officer, walked over to the lady in the police car, and she instructed me to put the money in the cubbyhole. She then instructed me to get out of the car and go back to my car and I refused.”
This was because she feared that once she got behind the wheel of her vehicle, she would be subjected to the same treatment again. She asked the police officer to drive her to her home, which the officer reluctantly agreed to do. The journey to her home was harrowing, she said, as the officer drove at a very high speed, not bothering to stop at red traffic lights. Bell was in her car with the male officer following behind.
Describing the accompanying trauma, Muller testified that: “I have honestly never been that scared in my entire life. And now after the incident, I find myself, even if I drive past a traffic officer, I get panic attacks. And it is starting to affect my mental health to be honest, because I had to go get a stamp on my ID from the police station, and the lady inside was so rude to me that I actually just started crying, because I thought I could trust the police, because they are there to help us when something goes wrong. I do not think I will ever be able to phone the police if anything else had to ever happen to me. I do not trust that system at all any more, not after being held against my will for four hours in the winter, just so that she could get R2,000.”
Bell corroborated Muller's testimony and also detailed the traumatic effect this had on her. She said she now had a fear of driving, especially at night, and of the police.
Judge Millar, in his ruling, found that the lower court had “misdirected” itself on two issues: that relating to where the officers were stationed vs their presence in Centurion as well as “in drawing an adverse inference against the appellants for failing to go straight to a police station to make a report while events were unfolding, when the evidence given by them explained clearly and unequivocally the reasons for why they had conducted themselves in the way they had was unchallenged”.
“Similarly, their evidence that the matter had been reported to Ipid was also unchallenged.
“In respect of both misdirections, it was never put to either of the appellants by the court a quo that adverse inferences would be drawn in respect of their undisputed evidence. The credibility of neither appellants was challenged nor disturbed at any stage by the respondent and no such findings were made by the court a quo.”
Millar said “the officers represented themselves as police officers, exercised police powers of arrest and detention and arrested and detained Ms Muller and Ms Bell respectively and thereafter escorted them home. Their attire and their vehicle made clear to Ms Muller and Ms Bell that they were police officers and they informed them that they were carrying out police duties at the time that they stopped them. There is to my mind no doubt that as far as Ms Muller and Ms Bell were concerned. There was a sufficiently close connection between the appearance and conduct of the officers on the evening in question and their work as police officers. It is for this reason that [the minister] is liable for the conduct of the officers.”
The high court accepted both women's testimonies as “clear and unequivocal” and upheld their appeal, awarding them costs for all three of their claims. Muller was awarded R102,000 while Bell got R70,000. The minister was also ordered to pay their legal costs.
On Muller, the ruling stated: “While the evidence does not establish that the assault was one of any consequence, it was nevertheless unlawful and perpetrated by a police officer at a time when she was under the direct control of that officer. The assault to my mind, cannot be separated from the continuum of events, which commenced with the stop, the arrest and detention, the assault and the subsequent extortion. An additional factor to be considered is that the only reason that Ms Muller was extorted and did not simply leave the scene is because of her concern for Ms Bell.
“This must also have weighed heavily on her and exacerbated her feelings at the time. Attempting, for purposes of an award of damages, to separate each occurrence into a discernible award is simply not practicable. The award to be made must be a composite one which is in respect of the arrest and detention, assault and extortion. In my view, an appropriate award for damages in respect of the three claims proven by Ms Muller is the sum of R102,000.”
On Bell, the judge said: “She was neither assaulted nor extorted. However, she was left alone for an extended period, standing by the side of the road next to an open field in the early hours of the morning with an unknown male police officer. Her evidence about this ordeal is clear and unequivocal and unchallenged insofar as the effect it had and continues to have on her. In my view, an appropriate award for damages is R70,000.”
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