The Durban High Court has ordered the Minister of Police to pay over R2 million in damages to a game farmer. This order stems from a 2015 incident where community members, in the presence of the police, killed the farmer’s animals and destroyed his machinery by burning it.

Arnold Fourie Raath sued the Minister of Police, asserting that Hluhluwe police failed to uphold their constitutional duty to protect him and his property.

He testified that on May 19, 2015, the Mdletshe community trespassed onto his Kroonvrug farm, destroying crops and machinery, and brutally slaughtering 80-90 head of valuable game, including nyala, black impala, reedbuck, bushbuck, and red duiker, which he kept in a 10-hectare camp adjoining his house. Raath also cultivated macadamias and pineapples.

The incident was preceded by cattle belonging to Mdletshe community members straying onto Raath’s farm on May 17, 2015, and later being found dead. The community suspected Raath had poisoned their cattle.

SPCA officials and the SAPS attended the scene, initially intending to bury the carcasses, but the community objected, insisting that the MEC and media view them the following day.

On the morning of May 19, 2015, at 06:20, Raath was alerted to a planned protest at his farm. 

“I immediately called the Hluhluwe station commander, Colonel Ntuli, asking him not to allow entry. His response was dismissive,” Raath explained. 

Raath called Colonel Ntuli approximately six additional times, reporting that people were gathering along his farm’s fence, setting machinery alight, destroying crops, and later slaughtering his animals. 

“Each time the station commander acknowledged the call but did nothing,” he said. 

Farm worker Lucky Mngomezulu corroborated this, stating that police stood at the gate but did not intervene.

Neighbouring farmer Anton Louw also witnessed the incident, called the police, but observed no intervention.

In their defence, the police denied liability, claiming their focus was on Raath’s safety and that they were overwhelmed by the protest’s scale. They also argued that Raath lacked lawful entitlement to some of the game animals. 

However, during cross-examination, Colonel Ntuli conceded that they had sufficient manpower to intervene and stop the crowd that day. 

He also admitted that public order policing units with riot-control equipment were present but were not deployed until later. Ntuli could not explain why he did not instruct reinforcements to disperse the crowd earlier and accepted that it would have been illogical for Raath to poison cattle, given that other farmers rented grazing from him.

“A reasonable police response would have ensured adequate reinforcements and the deployment of riot-control resources, including proactive measures by the public order policing unit to refuse unlawful entry onto private land,” said Judge Mokgere Masipa.

She further noted that the police’s assertion of being outnumbered contradicted Ntuli’s own concession about adequate manpower and video evidence showing numerous officers and vehicles. 

“In these circumstances, SAPS failed to act as reasonable officers would have. Their omissions constitute negligence,” Judge Masipa said. 

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za

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