The Cape Town High Court has ordered the police ministry to give the Otto family hundreds of thousands of rands after one of its members passed away while in police detention.
Emmerencia Charmaine Otto was taken into custody by South African Police Services (SAPS) officers at her residence in McGregor, Western Cape, in 2011.
She was arrested by the cops after they received a complaint of domestic disturbance, on a charge of riotous behaviour, and brought to the local police station.
Deceased took own life in police custody
Otto was found dead in the cell where she had been held, within an hour of her detention.
She had hung herself using her shoelaces, ending her own life.
On Friday, Judge Patrick Gamble ruled that the ministry must pay R300, 000,00 in respect of general damages. It must pay a further R96 600,00 in respect of the deceased’s son’s loss of support. The ministry is also liable to pay his estimated cost of future medical expenses.
The summons was issued in 2017. In his claim against SAPS, the son sought damages on rounds that the police were negligent in the manner in which they detained his mother.
The trial commenced on February 23 2023, and concluded, after various postponements, on April 23 2024.
Cops failed to search her thoroughly
The court was requested to determine both the merits and the quantum of the claim.
Gamble said every individual who is apprehended must always be searched right away to see if they are carrying any concealed weapons.
“According to section 29 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977, a person who has been arrested must be searched in a respectable manner that demonstrates their inherent dignity. Additionally, only individuals of the same gender may conduct a search on an arrested individual,” said judge Gamble.
In court, the counsel for the ministry accepted in argument that the SAPS personnel on duty that night owed the deceased a duty of care to search her and remove her shoelaces, and that they failed to do so.
Judge ruled negligence
“It is thus common cause that Otto’s claim for negligence is founded on an omission (as opposed to a positive act) which resulted in physical injury. And that the omission in issue here is the failure of the police to search the deceased before locking her up in the female cell.
“I conclude that the plaintiff has established the requisite element of wrongfulness. The defendant is to be held vicariously liable for the action (or, more properly, the inaction) of its members stationed at McGregor that night,” said Gamble.
