Police have been ordered to pay R5m as damages to an Eastern Cape man who was arrested without reason in August 2011 and released only five months later, according to a report on the IoL site.

Nkululeko Msongelwa was arrested at a tavern after police had arrived and ordered patrons to face the wall with their hands up before conducting body searches. He was told he was under arrest, but no reason was given.

Msongelwa made these submissions before Judge Bantubonke Tokota in the Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha).

Represented by attorney Wycliff Thobela Mnqandi, police closed their case without leading any evidence.

Msongelwa was shot in the ankle during the arrest as he resisted. While bleeding, he was handcuffed and thrown into the back of a police van and sustained a fractured ankle. It became clearer that he had been arrested for nothing when he started appearing in court.

He appeared in court several times and the matter was always remanded.

Tokota blasted the police. ‘It is clear that the investigating officer, if ever there was one, had no interest whatsoever in the matter from the beginning to the end. It is clear to me that the conduct of the police in the whole matter was reprehensible,’ said the judge.

‘The defendant is ordered to pay to the plaintiff the sum of R5m as damages in respect of the claim for unlawful arrest and detention such sum to be paid within 30 days from the date of this order,’ ruled Tokota.

Police were also ordered to pay the costs of the lawsuit, including costs of two counsel.

Full report on the IoL site