The Bloemfontein High Court ordered the Free State National Prosecuting Authority to pay R80,000 in damages to a police captain for prosecuting him before it had its ducks in a row.
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A police captain who told an officer with a lower rank that he is “f*** useless” is due to receive R80,000 in damages from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after he was charged with crimen injuria, but the court proceedings dragged on for four years before charges were dropped.
The Bloemfontein High Court found that Captain Daniel Liebenberg did utter these words towards Warrant Officer Jacob Nzama. However, this did not automatically justify prosecution for crimen injuria, as the required elements of seriousness and intention to impair dignity were not established.
Acting Judge JJF Hefer commented that if the prosecuting authority had done a better job at investigating the case against Liebenberg before simply pursuing it, there could have been chances of a conviction.
The judge pointed out that Liebenberg, as an SAPS captain, should have known better than to address a colleague of subordinate rank in the manner he had done.
“It appears that the words were indeed uttered in the spur of the moment towards a colleague, who tended not to perform his duties as a police official properly,” the judge said.
While the criminal case brought against Liebenberg was not based on false facts, the prosecuting authorities were held liable for compensation based on their failure to ascertain all the facts relating to the charge before withdrawing it.
Liebenberg, who said the charge against him caused him to be the “laughing stock” at the office, claimed R2 million from the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the authority’s Free State arm.
He said he had to appear in court on 14 occasions over four years before charges were withdrawn. The court, however, concluded that R80,000 under these circumstances is sufficient compensation.
In his claim for damages, Liebenberg argued that the NPA failed to properly assess the evidence and persisted with prosecution for years, even after becoming aware that it had a weak case against him.
The defendants, on the other hand, said that based on the case docket, they at first thought there was a reasonable basis to prosecute.
Liebenberg, who had been in the employment of the SAPS for a period of 31 years, of which he served as captain for 27 years, testified that Nzama had been transferred to the same shift as him a year before the incident.
According to him, the relationship between them was bad from the start.
He said that most of the time, Nzama failed to comply with instructions and always challenged him. He was very arrogant towards him and failed to address him as his captain.
The charge against him was sparked by an incident when Nzama, while on duty, had gone home to eat lunch.
Liebenberg denied he had uttered “any vulgar words” at the time, but looking at all the evidence, Judge Hefer concluded that he did.
But the judge found that while the docket contained statements supporting the complaint, there were significant discrepancies and insufficient evidence on key elements, including the impairment of the complainant’s dignity.
There was simply not enough evidence to support a charge of crimen injuria at the time Liebenberg was prosecuted.
The prosecutor could have strengthened the case of the complainant by making further enquiries, which she failed to do. The matter was not ready to be sent to trial, the judge said.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za