R600 000 for wrongful arrest

2009-06-08 16:33

Thabisile Khoza

Mbabane - A South African man who was wrongfully arrested by Swaziland police nine years ago for possession of drugs has been awarded nearly R600 000 in compensation.

Bambelela Boyce, 39, was arrested on August 3, 2000, by Swaziland police at the Oshoek border post for allegedly smuggling dagga into South Africa.

He was imprisoned and only acquitted and released in December, by which time he had been fired from his job.

“At the time of my arrest I was employed as a financial advisor based in Nelspruit. I was of service to clients in Nelspruit and Swaziland.

“During my arrest and incarceration I lost my job. I also lost my girlfriend, my car and my good name in society,” said Boyce in a statement read in court on Friday last week.

Swazi govt ordered to pay up

Boyce claimed R1.2m for his unlawful arrest and detention, but was initially awarded R720 000 by Judge Qinisile Mabuza in the Swaziland High Court.

The sentence was appealed and supreme court judges Michael Ramodibedi, JG Foxcroft and acting judge Stanley Maphalala reduced the amount to R593 244 76.

The Swaziland government, represented by Vuyile Dlamini, was also ordered to pay costs of the appeal.

Boyce said upon his release he tried to challenge the termination of his employment with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in South Africa but was unsuccessful.

Judge Mabuza said the wrongful arrest, unlawful lengthy period of detention and malicious prosecution was an abuse of taxpayers’ money.
 

- African Eye