The right to personal freedom is highly prized in our society and the deprivation thereof is regarded by the courts as a serious injury, a judge said in ordering the Ministry of Correctional Services to pay R1 million in damages to a former inmate who was unlawfully arrested while on parole.
Nkosana Leso turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, where he claimed damages against the Department of Correctional Services for his unlawful detention of just more than two years.
The court on an earlier occasion found that the department was wrong in detaining him again following his parole. The only reason he was thrown back into court – only months after his release on parole – was that he had lost the GPS device he was fitted with by the department so that they could track his movements at all times.
This time the court had to determine how much damages he should be awarded.
Leso was detained and incarcerated on the second round of jail time from June 2014 to October 2016 at the Baviaanspoort Medium Security Prison near Cullinan.
He was convicted in April 2002 on charges of attempted rape, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and housebreaking and sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment.
Leso was placed on parole in August 2013 after serving 12 years.
On his release, he was tagged with an electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle. He was also given a GPS receiver, which had to be in his possession at all times to monitor his movements.
In June 2014, and while at work, Leso lost the GPS receiver, which resulted in his arrest and the revocation of his parole.
He testified that, upon his arrest, he was locked up in a single cell for eight days. He experienced the cell as a “prison within a prison” and testified that single cells are normally reserved for troublesome inmates.
He was locked up 23 hours a day, with an hour reserved for exercise.
The official in charge of the prison explained that Leso was kept in a single cell because he had to appear before the parole board before he could be reintegrated into the general prison population. He emphasised that the single cell had a toilet, a shower, clean water, a mattress and bedding.
After eight days Leso was transferred to a communal cell, which housed between 35 to 40 inmates. The cell had bunk beds, a shower and a toilet, which were not separated from the cell. He testified that the cell did not allow for any privacy.
Regarding his state of mind, Leso said that both prison officials and other inmates treated him badly due to the perception that he could not stay out of trouble while he was on the outside. The fact that he was re-arrested left him confused and in a state of “disbelief,” he said, as it was not his fault that he had lost the GPS device.
According to Leso, he was doing well while on parole, as he lived in Mamelodi and had obtained work.
He also became a member of Mamelodi International Assemblies of God, which he regularly attended. He was welcomed into the congregation and would give advice to congregants on the dangers of getting involved in criminal activities.
Leso said when he was released after spending another two years in jail for no reason, he was not well-received by some members of the community who had lost confidence in him. In respect of the members of the church community, he faced difficult questions that he tried to answer to the best of his ability.
Some members would accept his explanation that he was arrested for losing the GPS receiver, whereas others were not convinced.
His lawyer told the court that around R4m in compensation would suffice, but Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen concluded that R1m was fair under the circumstances.
Pretoria News