Car stripped while in police custody? Court says SAPS must pay

The Minister of Police must pay damages to a car owner whose 2014 Volkswagen Golf went into a SAPS storage yard with its engine and came out without one, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has ruled. The court also refused to let police hide behind the indemnity form the owner signed when she collected the car (IOL).

How much she will get has not been decided yet. The court postponed the calculation of damages to separate proceedings and ordered the minister to pay her legal costs (Conviction).

What happened to the car?

Police recovered the Golf in Laudium, Pretoria, on 24 May 2022 after it was lent to someone who did not return it. The investigating officer testified it was complete and could start, though it had no battery. A security officer at the SAPS 13 storage facility in Pretoria West confirmed it was booked in with the engine fitted (IOL).

When the owner and her husband came to collect it in September 2022, they struggled to find the car and staff could not hand over the keys. They had it towed to a mechanic, who found the bonnet tied shut with wire and no engine underneath (Conviction).

A later inspection found the gearbox, water pump, flywheel, alternator, starter, manifold, cooler, regulator fan and catalytic converter were also gone, and the bumper had been pulled off (Joburg ETC).

Why didn't the indemnity protect the police?

When the car was released on 1 September 2022, the owner signed a form saying she had received it in good condition and freeing the police and the state from any claims linked to it (IOL).

Acting Judge Jacques Minnaar accepted the form was clearly worded and that nobody forced her to sign. But applying the Constitutional Court's test from Barkhuizen v Napier, the judge asked whether enforcing it would be fair. The answer was no: she had come to get her own property back, got little help, was handed several documents to sign and was not on an equal footing with the officials releasing the car (IOL).

The court also noted that the officer who filled in the release paperwork and issued the exit permit had not physically inspected the car first (IOL).

What does the ruling mean if police are holding your car?

The court restated that police have a legal duty to look after property they seize or keep for an investigation, because it may have to go back to its owner. If it enters storage in one condition and leaves in a worse one, that duty has not been met (IOL).

The case also shows what evidence carried weight. Police booking records and a SAPS security officer confirmed the engine was there on arrival, which is how the owner proved what was lost (Conviction). The judgment does not mean every indemnity signed at a police pound is void; the judge decided this one on its own facts.

If your vehicle is released from a SAPS facility, the paperwork records its condition. The owner in this case did not check the car before signing, although the missing key was noted on the forms (Conviction).