Multi-million rand damages claim by teacher against Tshwane Metro Police for alleged assault

A Tshwane Metro Police vehicle. Picture: Sakhile Ndlazi

A Tshwane Metro Police vehicle. Picture: Sakhile Ndlazi

Published Jan 12, 2021

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Pretoria - Kymie du Toit, the Pretoria nursery school teacher who made headlines when she was allegedly assaulted and thrown to the ground by Tshwane Metro Police officers, has instituted a multi-million rand damages claim against the TMPD as well as against the SAPS.

Du Toit, 30, of Moreleta Park, instituted the claim in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, following her harrowing ordeal in 2019.

It is stated in court papers that as she returned home at around 11pm on November 26, 2019, after completing her duties as an au-pair for a family in Cornwall Hill Estate, she noticed a vehicle which looked like it belonged to the Tshwane Metro police parked across two lanes in Nellmapius Drive.

Someone waved her down and indicated she should stop but she was fearful as it was late and she was alone so she put on her hazard lights and drove slowy to a Total petrol station in Rubenstein Drive, where she stopped.

She said she was still traumatised from an incident a few months before, when she was driving from Lanseria Airport to Pretoria and was stopped along the N14 by four men wearing police uniforms in a Toyota Corolla with a SAPS sticker on it.

When she stopped and presented her driving licence, she was robbed by the men who brandished a firearm and a knife. So when she was stopped again, she recalled this incident and did not want to stop until she felt safe.

When she stopped at the garage the Metro police who had been following her pulled her out of her car and, she said, pushed her to the ground and kicked and punched her, pushing her face into the tarmac.

She said they bundled her into their vehicle and drove her around, and then made her do a breathalyser test, which was negative. She was taken to the Lyttelton Police Station where she was kept for several hours, before being charged with reckless and negligent driving. She was later released on R1 000 bail.

The prosecuting authority certified that her prosecution has no prospect of success and declined to prosecute her.

Du Toit is, among others, claiming damages for the trauma she suffered when she was allegedly assaulted by the police officers.

She said she had lost consciousness at some point and continued to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Her other claims include damage for loss of income as well as for the fact that she was held for a charge which was not true.

She said that apart from being hurt she was also humiliated by her ordeal.

The City authorities claim officers had given her a lawful instruction to stop which she had ignored. They are adamant she was driving recklessly and negligently as she did not obey traffic signals on her way to the garage.

They deny any knowledge of Du Toit being assaulted by its officers at the petrol station. The police have not filed papers and her legal team will consider requesting a default judgment against the SAPS.

Pretoria News

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