THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEAL
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
| Mugwena v Minister of Safety & Security | |
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| Supreme Court of Appeal -303/03 | Hearing date: 15 Nobember 2005 |
| Judgment date: 29 November 2005 | |
South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 – whether pursuant to s 57(5) the requirements or prohibitions contained in s 57(1) and (2) should be dispensed with.
Whether killing of the deceased by the police justified in private defence.
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Media Summary of Judgment |
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FROM The Registrar, Supreme Court of Appeal
Please note that the media summary is for the benefit of the media and does not form part of the judgment.
CASEN K MUGWENA AND ANOTHER v THE MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY (Case No 303 / 03)
Today the SCA upheld an appeal by the appellants against a finding by the Venda High Court that their claims against the respondent, the Minister of Safety and Security, should be dismissed because of non-compliance with the provisions of section 57(1) of the South African Police Act ('the Act'). The appellants are the wife and daughter respectively of an off-duty policeman who was shot and killed by members of the SAPS at approximately midnight on 26 August 1997 at his home in the Buwani district of the Northern Province. The claim of the appellants was met with a special plea that section 57(1) of the Act had not been complied with, hence the appellants were barred from instituting an action. Alternatively, it was contended that the policeman who shot and killed the deceased was acting in self-defence. In terms of section 57(1) the legal proceedings in this matter should have been instituted within 12 calendar months of the deceased's death. It had not. Section 57(5) permitted a court to dispense with that requirement where the interests of justice so required. The High Court upheld the special plea and intimated that it was therefore not necessary to consider whether or not the killing of the deceased was justified.
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