The Star article is misleading and subjective.
The Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa has noted today’s The Star newspaper (page 6), claiming that he “could be without a desk in his Pretoria office soon if the ministry fails to pay a KwaZulu-Natal man the R52 000 it owes him for unlawful detention, arrest and assault.”
The story, headlined: ‘Claimant tackles police over payout’ falsely claims that the sheriff in Pretoria had already attached 100 “tables” said to be valued at R60 000 at the official office of the ministry on the seventh floor of Watchuis, 231 Pretorius Street, if the ministry fails to pay the claimant.
For the record, the claim in question was settled by the department; an amount of R55 043.22 was paid into the Sheriff’s account on 15 June 2011. Furthermore, the allegation that 100 tables at the ministry’s offices were attached is untrue. It is equally unfair in that the article alleges that “attempts to get comment from the ministry were unsuccessful.” No attempt was made whatsoever to contact the ministry for comment on this story, thus we view it as unbalanced and providing a misleading viewpoint.
Nonetheless, the amount of lawsuits brought against the ministry remains a concern to the Minister, irrespective of the amount involved. For this reason he has consistently emphasised that police officers need to uphold the law at all material times. Those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, as it has been evidenced in the past few months, will face the full might of the law.
Enquiries:
Zweli Mnisi
Cell: 082 045 4024
