A legal expert says victims can claim for police and SANDF brutality : Although millions of rands in payouts awaits civilians who are killed or injured by brutal police officers, it could take up to four years for victims to receive their claims.
This was the view of legal and crime experts
At least three deaths have been recorded in the 12 days since the commencement of the 21-day national lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The deaths were allegedly caused by aggressive police officers who, along with members of the SANDF, have been accused of being heavy handed in mostly township areas to enforce the lockdown.
The deaths included Sibusiso Amos from Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, who was killed last week Sunday in his yard and in front of his mother,
Zimbabwean Bernard Bandukandu, who died last week Tuesday after being shot the previous Saturday in Diepsloot, north of Joburg, while carrying groceries for his children.
And recently on Friday 10th April Collins Khoza and his family were assaulted in their own home for having alcohol which they claim was bought before the lockdown and was followed by heavy brutality – He later passed on.
Mthokozisi Maphumulo, an attorney at Adams and Adams, said that victims can sue the state, but the action would be a lengthy one.
cases payouts could differ and will depend on the victims’s employment, the extent and the nature of the injuries and so on. “If a death occurs from police brutality, the dependants can claim for loss of support; they will just have to prove that the deceased had a duty to provide and maintain his family, and that the deceased did, in fact, support them,” Maphumulo said.
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Do you think victims do claim or they gradually let go ?
