Alfred Moselakgomo

Alfred Moselakgomo

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has been ordered to pay a Mpumalanga man R50000 after he was severely beaten up by policemen.

The Pretoria central magistrate's court on Friday ruled that Piet Maluleke of Spitspunt in KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga, be compensated for his injuries when he was beaten to a pulp by the Mmametlhake police.

The court heard that Maluleke was travelling with his brother in October last year when they were stopped by the police at a roadblock between Lefiso and Spitspunt villages.

Maluleke, who said he was a passenger in the car at the time, was reportedly drinking beer.

The police accused him of disrupting his brother who was driving the car.

The police reportedly beat Maluleke and kicked him in the face when he argued that he only had one bottle of beer and could drink because he was not the driver.

Maluleke's lawyer, Moepi Maubane, argued that the police's actions were against the law.

Maluleke spent some time at the Marapyane health centre.

Earlier this year, lawyers representing the police asked the court to postpone the matter to last Friday to give them more time to consult their clients.

When they didn't show up on Friday the magistrate gave judgment in their absence, ruling that Maluleke be paid R50000.

He said the police had taken the law into their own hands and the message should be sent that no one was above the law.