Dad arrested buying formula during curfew to sue SA Police Service
- A Centurion father was recently arrested for rushing to a hospital to buy formula for his newborn baby
- The man is now planning to sue the SA Police Service in addition to the cops who had detained him
- The father is suing the officials for unlawful arrest for breaking the lockdown curfew
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A Centurion father was recently arrested for rushing to a nearby hospital during curfew to purchase formula for his small baby.
The man is now gearing up to sue the SA Police Service in addition to the officers who had detained him.
Lily Rautenbach, Naas le Roux's attorney, held a media briefing hosted by AfriForum on Monday to discuss the situation:
“We are going to proceed with a civil claim against the relevant police officers and we are filing a formal complaint at the police commissioner and other relevant authorities."
While avoiding what the claim would entail in its entirety, Rautenbach confirmed that it was an unlawful arrest civil suit.
The amount Le Roux would be suing the authorities for, the decision to file the suit comes against the charges against Le Roux were withdrawn.
The desperate father had rushed off to a pharmacy at Netcare Unitas at around 1 am to purchase formula for his two-day-old child.
The mother had been battling to breastfeed the baby, prompting the last minute rush to secure formula.
On his way home from the hospital, Le Roux was stopped by the police, being detained and allegedly spending the night with others in a cell.
Gerrie Nel has slammed the conduct on the authority's part as nothing short of 'appalling':
“I would like to compliment the NPA for the way in which they dealt with this particular case. The way they dealt with the case is in contrast to the irrational and abusive means in which the SAPS conducted themselves in the monitoring of Covid-19 regulations."
“While I am critical of the policemen that affected arrest, I must emphasise a more appalling conduct of their commanders. This must be one of the greatest and deliberate derelictions of duty we’ve come across.”
Nel voiced the opinion that the police had 'deliberately' rejected evidence that had been provided to prove the father's innocence.
The invoice for milk had allegedly been discarded when it should have been included in the docket.
“This was no mistake. It was deliberate, malicious and must be likened to what one of the arresting officers said to Mr Le Roux: ‘We will teach you a lesson.’”
Meanwhile, Briefly.co.za reported that recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government had secured millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The country is in need of desperate relief, as there have been over 1 million confirmed cases and 37 105 deaths.
The National Treasury is now considering increasing tax rates so that they can fund the vaccine. The Treasury director-general, Dondo Mogajane says that the government is committed to funding the rollout of the vaccines.
“SA will not take us seriously if I can find money for SAA but not for vaccines,” he said, during an interview with Business Day.
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Source: Briefly News