Wrongfully arrested woman wins nearly R600k after ordeal that led her to consider suicide

A woman who endured a harrowing 10-day detention after a wrongful arrest has been awarded nearly R600 000 in damages by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

Cynthia Nobuhle Khedama initially sued the Minister of Police for R1 million over her arrest and detention, which she said left her humiliated and traumatised.

Arrest and xenophobic abuse

On 3 December 2011, Khedama was at King Shaka International Airport in Durban with her Cameroonian boss and his wife preparing to depart for a business trip to Turkey.

Two police officers approached and escorted her away for questioning.

She testified that officers made xenophobic remarks, stating she was being searched because she was with a “kwerekwere”, a derogatory term for foreign nationals.

Despite no incriminating items being found during the search, she was arrested.

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When asked to phone her parents, she told police they were deceased and instead requested they contact a Cape Town officer familiar with fraud allegations linked to her stolen identity document.

Even after her story about the loss of her ID being reported to the South African Police Service (Saps) was confirmed by a Captain Bernard, the Durban officers insisted on detaining her.

They later accused her of being involved with a “kwerekwere” when she revealed her boyfriend was also a foreign national.

Traumatic detention

Khedama was taken to Tongaat police station and held in a small, filthy cell.

According to her, the toilet in the cell was very dirty with faeces and smelled terrible.

She spent the night sitting and unable to sleep.

The woman said no food was offered to her and she later developed an intense headache.

She testified that she was so distressed that she contemplated suicide, saving up headache tablets with the intention of overdosing.

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Although she was later given bread and tea, the stench of faeces in the cell made it impossible for her to eat or drink.

She was also unable to touch the meal from KFC brought by her boyfriend.

Throughout her detention at the police station, she was never given the chance to exercise, nor was she afforded any opportunity to wash.

On 5 December, she was taken to Verulam Magistrate’s Court without a chance to apply for bail and informed she would be transported to Cape Town.

The cross-country journey to Cape Town involved two overnight stops in deplorable cells in Mthatha and Monti in Eastern Cape, where she endured freezing conditions and no food.

Bail release

Upon arriving in Cape Town on 11 December, her fingerprints were taken again, confirming she was not the person police were seeking.

Khedama appeared in the Phillipe East Magistrate’s Court on 12 December.

She was granted R1 000 bail later reduced to R500 on 12 December after explaining she cared for two children and had no funds.

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The woman returned to Durban shortly after and was eventually cleared when her identity was definitively confirmed in March 2012.

The ordeal also had a lasting impact on her employment.

Her boss and colleagues began to mistrust her, which ultimately led to her demotion from her position as sales manager.

On a subsequent business trip, the same two police officers who had initially arrested Khedama approached her at the airport again – this time claiming they were “just joking” and wanted to find out what had happened her.

Woman sues police minister for wrongful arrest

Khedama subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Police, seeking compensation for embarrassment and humiliation, defamation of character, physical and emotional distress, loss of freedom through wrongful arrest and detention and psychological trauma as well as travel, subsistence and related expenses incurred during her ordeal.

She was initially awarded R1 million in damages.

The Minister of Police appealed the ruling in the KZN High Court in Pietermaritzburg.

This led to the damages being significantly reduced to R350 000, plus interest at 15.5% per annum from the date of judgment until payment.

SCA judgment

Khedama then took her case to the SCA, where the matter was heard on 2 May 2025.

In a judgment delivered on 5 June, scting Judge Daniel Dlodlo ruled in her favour, concluding that there had been no evidence to suggest Khedama posed any threat to society, nor was she considered dangerous or violent.

“There are indeed more questions than answers in this case,” Dlodlo said.

“She did not only lose her seniority status at her employment, she suffered damage to her reputation as a result of being arrested and detained in the manner it was done.

“All this played out in the presence of her boss. The latter cannot be blamed for completely changing his attitude towards the appellant. He became suspicious of her and mistrusted her.

“The boss must have thought that the appellant was indeed the type of personality displayed by the police,” the further judgment reads.

Dlodlo further pointed out the severe psychological toll of her detention.

“She rightfully must have thought that it would be better for her to rather die.”

Considering the manner in which Khedama was treated during her detention, the judge found the high court’s decision to reduce the damages awarded to be unjustified.

He upheld her appeal and revised the damages to R580 000.

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