Prisoner who says he was assaulted loses R550 000 damages claim

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Pretoria - A prisoner at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in the city who claimed he was assaulted with a baton after a cellphone was found in his cell has lost his damages claim of R550 000. According to the Justice and Correctional Services Department, he injured himself to avoid disciplinary proceedings. Thabiso Mabuya not only lost his claim, but Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, Judge Brenda Neukircher also slapped him with the legal costs. Mabuya claimed he was hit with a baton at Mogwase Prison in Rustenburg in September 2014. He said when the baton fell out of the hands of the prison warden, the latter punched him. He also claimed guards tried to push him through a window and he badly injured himself in the process.

The department said Mabuya was known for falsely claiming that staff were assaulting him and he had been moved several times to other prisons because of this.

Mabuya testified that on the day of the incident he was on his way back to his cell from the visitation centre when he was confronted by a correctional officer only identified as Mr Matlakala.

Mabuya said the officer had earlier given him a cellphone to sell and he either wanted his money or the phone back. He said his cell was raided and the phone was found.

He said Matlakala took him to his office and told him; “I want to take this clever attitude of yours out of you”. He was hit with a baton and punched until he was pushed on to a window and cut his wrist.

He testified that other warders were present but they only stood and watched the assault.

His wrist was so badly injured he was taken to hospital where he was operated on. He remained there for two weeks before returning to the prison.

Matlakala testified that he had received a tip-off from his sister that Mabuya had a cellphone in his cell.

He said his sister complained that Mabuya harassed her and even sent her pictures of himself in prison gear.

It was for this reason that his cell was searched and the phone was found in a box under his bed.

Pictures of him in his prison outfit were found on the phone.

Matlakala testified that during his interrogation, he tried to body-search Mabuya, but the latter jumped onto a table next to the window and broke the pane. He tried to reach for a piece of the broken pane, but guards stopped him and took him to the prison hospital as his wrist was bleeding.

Matlakala denied he gave the prisoner the cellphone and his version was that Mabuya had deliberately injured himself “to avoid the disciplinary action which he knew was coming for the possession of the cellphone”.

The unit manager based at the prison confirmed that they had searched the cell after complaints were received that the prisoner harassed a woman by sending her messages and phoning her from prison. He also denied that the prisoner was assaulted and testified that he had injured himself when he broke the window pane.

Judge Neukircher said there were two mutually destructive versions before the court and both versions had shortcomings. These included that it had not come to light exactly how the prisoner had injured his wrist.

Apart from the hospital record containing the injuries to Mabuya’s wrist, no medical records were produced to show he was assaulted.

The judge said she found this puzzling in light of his evidence that he was repeatedly hit with a baton. Turning down the claim, she said it was not disputed that the prisoner had a history of laying charges of assault against prison officers.

Pretoria News