Family seeks R100m from police for alleged torture

A family of a man who was allegedly tortured to death by police officers at his home five months ago is seeking R100m in damages from the police minister.

Themba Voyama of Phalaborwa, Limpopo, was severely assaulted allegedly by officers in March who were searching for drugs. His family is claiming R50m for loss of support, R15m for psychological trauma, R15m for parental care and R20m for negligence by police. Voyama has one child whose mother died when she was 2 years old.

In court papers filed by the family's legal representative last week, an eyewitness who was present during the incident said Voyama was in good health before he was assaulted.   

“It is common cause that two of the gentlemen were in full police uniform while the others wore plain clothes. At all material times, the deceased was in good health, perfect mind, body and spirit were in good alignment,” read the court papers.

The family said the officers arrived at Voyama's home where he lived with his daughter, looking for a black bag. The daughter was not at home at the time of the incident. 

Voyama's sister, Thandi Baloyi, who is the first applicant in the matter, said officers also brought in the assistance of a sniffer dog, but it did not find anything. 

Baloyi said Voyama was a local businessman who ran a car wash and sold liquor. He also sold meals near the local school and clinic. 

“The police led Themba [Voyama] and his lady friend inside the house notably looking for drugs. However, they further brought a dog to assist with the search and couldn't find anything. The police dog never picked up anything from the search. The deceased was taken again by the police officials for further interrogation.”

Baloyi said the interrogation led to officers torturing Voyama for “about 30 to 40 minutes nonstop”.

She also alleged that neighbours heard Voyama scream and plead for help from his home.

“At all material times, the deceased pleaded to the police officials that he was in pain and that they should stop. The neighbours from the surrounding areas who noticed the police vehicle were concerned and alerted the family about the piercing loud noise coming from the house.”

The family said the officers put Voyama in a police van.

“The deceased was still alive although bruised, beaten and bleeding profusely.”

The following day, his brother went to the police station but he was told that Voyama was not there. He then went to check at a local hospital but did not find him. The brother then went back to the police station and found him in a pathologist van, according to the court papers.

According to the postmortem, Voyama's cause of death was soft tissue injuries.

A medical report was issued on August 25, which Sowetan has seen said Voyama “suffered a severe crush injury syndrome that led to his death”. 

“Assault with beating is one of the causes of crush injury syndrome,” read the report.

On Wednesday, Baloyi told Sowetan that the family was still battling to come to terms with the ordeal.

“One just finds herself feeling sad and I even cry just thinking about how he was beaten up. Even yesterday, one of my younger sisters said she cries whenever she thinks about this matter. It doesn't sit well with us at all,” she said.

“We want R100m in damages because of how he was badly beaten. How can you torture a person until they die, they even used pepper spray. He [Voyama] also assisted us financially and now his daughter had to be moved from the school she attended,” Baloyi said.   

A spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Phaladi Shuping, said the police watchdog is “investigating the conduct of the police and whether the deceased's death was caused by the action of the police”.

“The matter is still under investigation. The post mortem was conducted and there are samples taken for toxicology but the results are outstanding,” Shuping said.'

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