Driver sues SANDF for roadblock ordeal

Published Feb 20, 2017

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Pretoria - A Limpopo man says he was left traumatised after he drove into an SANDF roadblock with a spiked metal strip across the road one night and came under fire. Peter Nicholson from Musina still has flashbacks and will need psychiatric treatment.

The spikes punctured all his tyres, and last week Nicholson said in papers before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that he was grateful to be alive.

He is claiming nearly R5 million in damages from the Minister of Defence, saying that his life was threatened and his fundamental right to movement violated.

He was travelling on the R525 between Tshipise and Bokmakierie in Limpopo on April 20, 2015, around 8pm when his car struck a spiked expanding metal trap pulled across the road. He heard semi-automatic rifle fire from the side of the road and realised he was under fire. He drove on despite flat tyres and reached a farmhouse, from where he alerted police.

The police arrested an SANDF officer at the SMG Military Base in Musina and military police officers. Nicholson also laid charges of attempted murder, malicious damage to property and intimidation against the arrested officers.

The case is ongoing.

Nicholson said there was no justification for the attack as he did nothing wrong. He did not commit any offence or pose a threat to anyone.

He also said the roadblock was not authorised.

The court gave the SANDF 10 days to answer. If not, Nicholson will ask that the court grant him his R5m in damages.

The Mercury

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