The Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela has ordered the Minister of Police to pay a farm worker and traditional healer R650,000 after finding she was unlawfully shot her four times with rubber bullets, arrested and detained for four days following a community protest.
Acting Judge T.S. Ngwenya awarded Fikile Gininza R200,000 for unlawful arrest and detention and R450,000 for unlawful assault after he found that police had failed to justify the assault, arrest and detention during unrest near the Barberton Community Clinic in February 2020.
According to the judgment handed down on Monday, police were deployed to the clinic after protesters allegedly barricaded the entrance with stones and burning tyres, while officers came under attack from stones and bottles.
Gininza maintained she was not part of the protest. She testified that she had been walking to collect a friend before attending a traditional healer’s ceremony when police emerged from between nearby houses and began firing. She said she fell after being shot and was then shot again at close range while lying on the ground.
She told the court that despite explaining she was not involved in the protest, officers continued firing before arresting her. She was later handcuffed at the police station and remained handcuffed under police guard while in hospital for four days before being told there was no case against her.
The court heard that four rubber bullets were removed from her body.
Gininza testified that she continues to experience pain, particularly during winter, struggles to bend, suffers abdominal pain affecting bladder control and requires assistance with her work as a traditional healer. She also said the scarring had affected her relationships and damaged her reputation in the community.
The SA Police Service’s only witness, Warrant Officer Mnisi, testified that officers had used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse a violent crowd threatening to burn down the clinic.
However, he conceded under cross-examination that he never saw Gininza participating in the protest and could not explain why she had been shot in the back.
He also acknowledged that a person who has turned their back was no longer a threat and later conceded that Gininza could not have posed a threat while lying on the ground.
In his ruling, Ngwenya found that the state had failed to prove the assault, arrest and detention were lawful.
“The defence witness could not place the plaintiff at the vicinity of the violent protest nor did he dispute that the Plaintiff was shot at a place far from the protest. Therefore, there was no probable cause to arrest and detain the Plaintiff.”
He also found it significant that Gininza had been shot in the back while unarmed.
“Even if I were to accept that the Plaintiff was part of the protest and was fleeing when she got shot, that does not justify the shooting, as she was no longer a threat,” Ngwenya ruled.
He also ordered the Minister of Police to pay interest on the award and Gininza’s legal costs.
IOL News
Nivashni Nair
iol.co.za
