The Police Minister failed to show that the two men's arrest was lawful.The Supreme Court of Appeal has upheld a high court ruling ordering outgoing Police Minister Bheki Cele to pay damages to two former ANC councillors who were unlawfully arrested and tortured while in custody.
The former ANC councillors claimed that on the day of their arrest, they were driven in separate vehicles to an office in Butterworth, where they were interrogated and assaulted by the police. “The probabilities regarding whether the assault took place favour the respondents. They were kept in an office in Butterworth for approximately five hours with no clear justification for such length of detention being given by the minister’s witnesses,” theMabindla-Boqwana said “no plausible explanation” was provided as to why Sabisa and Mambila were only booked at the Mthatha police station just before midnight, despite having been arrested around 3pm.
“Counsel for the minister submitted that it is sufficient that a warrant was obtained, even if not in the possession of the arrestor at the time of the arrest.