A Johannesburg man who was charged with unlawful gun possession and locked up while his wife lay fighting for her life in hospital because he took the gun away from the man who shot her has been awarded R180 000 damages.
Acting Judge ML Senyatsi of the High Court in Pretoria ordered the police minister and the National Prosecuting Authority to compensate Mantsena Francis Maphophe for his wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution three years ago.
Maphope’s ordeal started when Mogale Lesufi – a colleague at the insurance company where he and his former wife worked – stopped them in the basement carpark.
Lesufi, who had a heated argument with Maphope’s wife, took out a firearm and shot her in the head at point blank range before turning the gun on himself.
The frightened Maphope went to phone 911 and on returning to the scene saw that his wife was still alive. He took the gun away from Lesufi because he was afraid that the man might wake up and shoot them.
He wrapped the gun in Lesufi’s T-shirt and placed it in the back of his car before putting his wife in the car and driving to the top of the basement to wait for the ambulance and the police.
When the police arrived, he explained to them what had happened, pointed out the gun and took them to the basement where he showed them Lesufi’s body.
He was not allowed to accompany his wife and his hands were first tested for gunshot residue before the police escorted him to the hospital, where his wife corroborated his version of the incident.
A police official phoned him three days later and asked him to come to the police station, where he was interrogated and arrested. While his wife lay in hospital fighting for her life, Maphope was kept in custody for 12 days before he was released on bail.
He appeared in court several times before all charges were withdrawn against him. Judge Senyatsi said Maphope’s arrest under the circumstances defied logic and was clearly wrongful.
He said the control prosecutor had clearly overplayed his role, did not apply himself properly to the statements in the docket and decided to prosecute Maphope with the intention to injure him.
– ilsedl@citizen.co.za
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