Nearly 13 years ago, a six-year-old child witnessed the police torture and humiliate his father. Now an adult, he has successfully instituted a damages claim against the police, says a report in The Mercury.

Tshililo Mulimo told the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) that he will never forget what the SAPS had done to his father in 2012.

His father had previously instituted a claim against the police for unlawful arrest and assault. Without accepting liability, the SAPS agreed to pay R350 000 in compensation to the father.

In his claim, Mulimo testified that in October 2012, he was playing in a field next to his grandparents’ property. He saw his father arriving home with the police. His father was handcuffed, and the police dragged him towards the pit toilet. He saw the police kicking his father.

At the pit toilet, he saw the officers digging a hole. He saw them filling the hole with excrement from the toilet, and his father was ordered to enter the hole.

A police officer who worked in Makhado testified that he was not involved and only took pictures on that day.

He said the officers forced the father into the excrement-filled hole to search for a missing firearm.

Judge Nomonde Mngqibisa-Thusi ordered that the SAPS had to pay Mulimo damages, but did not specify the amount.

Full report in The Mercury

Judgment