Central SA
Hitchhiker assault: FS police officers to be tried─── 10:57 Fri, 22 Jan 2021
In early February seven Free State police officers will – following three years of investigations and failed court appearances – be tried for the assault of a group of hitchhikers in 2017.
The South African is in possession of the latest court summons indicating the trial will sit on 1 and 8 February 2021 at the Edenburg Magistrate’s Court in the Free State – well over three years since the incident occurred.
The summons also comes on the back of some of the hitchhikers having received R187 500 of the R350 000 they had each won from a lawsuit against police in December 2020.
HITCHHIKERS MISTAKEN FOR ROBBERS
Lerato Mokotso and three other people were on 2 October 2017 hitchhiking on the N1 outside Trompsburg, heading to Edenburg. They got a lift from a white panel van which was stopped by local police shortly after departure from the hiking spot.
The group was accused of a robbery at a local furniture store, in which the suspects made use of a white panel van. Mokotso says he and the other hitchhikers were promptly arrested and kept in police custody. It is here that the alleged assault took place. The group was released from police custody not too long thereafter, but the damage had already been done. The group had to seek medical attention from a local hospital for their injuries.
INTERNAL DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS WENT NOWHERE
Internal disciplinary proceedings against the seven police officers – six men and one woman – between 2018 and 2019 turned out futile as their unions managed to defend their members successfully.
IPID, however, found the police officers to be in the wrong, charging them with assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
On two separate occasions, three police officers including a station commander missed court appearances on the matter and warrants for their arrests were later issued.
IPID AND THE ALTERED CASE STATISTICS
In October 2019, accountability project Viewfinder published an exposé on IPID, alleging that cases were being manipulated by investigators for the purpose of altering the directorate’s performance on cases.
Leaked memos, reports, correspondence, a signed affidavit and a statement to the Zondo Inquiry into State Capture supported the assertion. In addition to the manipulated figures, budgetary cuts imposed by the state were also found to be preventing IPID from effectively carrying out their mandate. In the piece, the cuts were being seen as a measure to hamstring IPID from prosecuting top police officials.
