The family of a Northern Cape man have won their civil action suit, having successfully proven he died wrongfully in the hands of the police — with the SAPS liable for damages they have suffered due to loss of support as well as “the reasonable costs of his funeral”.
Susan van der Westhuizen and her daughters Chantè and Denise lodged an action for loss of support arising from the allegedly wrongful death of Van der Westhuizen’s husband and the father of both girls, who is not named in the court papers and is referred to only as “the deceased”.
The Van der Westhuizens told Northern Cape High Court judge Lawrence Lever that their husband and father had a duty to support them but could not fulfil this because of his alleged wrongful death.
The SAPS denied this, claiming they were not responsible for the death which happened just more than 10 years ago.
The court heard the deceased was arrested on the afternoon of February 14 2014 by the police, who believed he was drunk in public. The man was said to be lying next to the driver’s side of his car in Springbok.
The family alleged at the time of his arrest, the man, who was diabetic, was actually in a diabetic shock. They argued further he had suffered several bruises and injuries at the time. The police claimed to have no knowledge of this.
According to the family, the father was arrested and taken into custody by Const Klaase and Const Stanfliet, who failed to take any steps to establish the man’s medical condition at the time, nor to ensure medical treatment was administered.
The family said the father was put into a holding cell and at 7pm when there was a shift change, W/O Clarke took over. Clarke went to check on him at about 11pm and found frothy vomit coming from his mouth. She called for an ambulance and he was taken to the local hospital, where he was admitted allegedly wearing only a pair of khaki shorts, no shirt and no shoes.
At the time of his admission, the deceased was in diabetic shock. He had a cut on his forehead and several other bruises and injuries.
He died at 3.40pm on February 1 2014.
The medico-legal postmortem report revealed he had sustained multiple blunt traumas to his face and body, multiple fractured ribs, numerous haemorrhages to internal organs and his blood glucose was severely low.
Several medical experts testified on behalf of the family about the deceased’s cause of death and all agreed that this was different to the information contained in the postmortem report. They said several factors — 'a cascade of events' — had ultimately led to the fatal heart attack
The SAPS argued they had no knowledge of these injuries and that they had not happened while the deceased was in detention and under the custody of Klaase, Stanfliet and Clarke. They said they had fulfilled their duties to keep the deceased in custody and protect him from harming himself.
The family argued the father’s death was the “direct result of the intentional conduct, omissions and negligence of the named members as well as other police members of the Springbok police station”. They argued the police had failed to get medical treatment for the father immediately after his arrest, and they were therefore negligent and at fault.
Susan van der Westhuizen told the court the father of their two daughters was diagnosed as a diabetic and was on medication to control the condition.
She said at the time of his death, her husband had been doing consulting work for a company that had provided him with a vehicle. She said she had visited the Springbok police station where Klaase had handed her husband’s personal effects and showed her the cell where he had been detained. He then took her to the company car he had been using.
She said she found her husband’s diabetic medication strewn about the vehicle and another witness confirmed having seen that bright yellow pills had spilt in the car. Klaase and Stanfliet agreed that they had been told by the deceased that he was diabetic, but differed in their responses relating to whether he was on medication.
Several medical experts testified on behalf of the family about the deceased’s cause of death and all agreed that this was different to the information contained in the postmortem report. They said several factors — “a cascade of events” — had ultimately led to the fatal heart attack where the deceased could not be revived.
The SAPS argued that the members who arrested the deceased had taken him to the police station where he informed them that he was diabetic. When he was taken to hospital in the early hours, the deceased had been unconscious and in “a hypoglycaemic condition” and therefore already critically ill.
It was accepted that his chances of survival would have been higher had he received treatment quicker, but the SAPS officers concerned were acting within the course and scope of their employment at the material time and no negligence had been proven.
The court heard the deceased was not put in cells at the back of the police station but rather in the community service centre area where he could be more easily monitored.
Clarke said she kept a check on him when she was on duty but had no way of knowing whether he was unconscious or just sleeping, as she had no medical training. It was therefore because of this that the police could not be found to be negligent.
However, the court argued Clarke did have experience with the disease, as her own mother was a diabetic. She therefore knew that the illness was treated with pills, so the evidence she led in regard to diabetes — and that she was evasive when questioned — led to the court finding her evidence unsatisfactory.
Lever found that the family had established the elements required to establish a delictual claim for loss of support and the SAPS was liable for these damages. He ordered that the family be compensated for their loss from the father’s death.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.