We report on true stories of abuse by the South African Police “Service”. Unedited. Published on request and with permission. 

If you would like us to tell your story (anonymously if you wish) please contact our #JointheQueue Dagga Arrest Helpline.

Here is another arrest story detailing illegal search tactics used by cops. Even though every arrest story is unique, it is still very common for the men in uniform to use ‘scare and intimidate’ tactics to perform illegal searches or gain compromising info from you. If they do not have a search warrant, you may refuse them entry to your property.  If they say that they can get that court order easily, then let them do so. We’ve heard of cases where the police’s bluff was called and they chose to leave, rather than face the annoyance that a warrantless search might bring their way.  Be aware of this and Know your Rights when being searched.

Police station involved: Stellenbosch

Charge: Dealing and cultivating

Date: 18 July 2019

Events as told by one of the ladies present: Dis crazy, hulle het bo ingekom waar ons gesit en gesels het, geen lasbrief of so iets nie, en hulle was ten minste 5. Hulle het deur elke liewe dagga ding gekyk en gevra wat is dit en dan lag hulle. En ek en die ander dame wat daar werk (Hy het n billing besigheid en sy is n student wat werk laataand vr ekstra geld) – ons mag nie in en uit die perseel nie want hulle sê ‘dit is nou n crime scene’ Hulle het heeltyd n vrou probeer kry om my en die ander meisie te op en af check vir dagga. Ek was so bang, nie omdat ek dagga op my het nie, ek gebruik glad nie, maar net die idee om so ondersoek te word. Ek het letterlik gebewe. Maar kalm genoeg begin raak om hom te kan help soveel ek kon.

Events as told by the victim:

On Thursday 18 July 2019 at around 21:30 there was a loud knock on my door. When I opened, the police stormed in and pushed me against the wall. I was handcuffed and when I asked what I was arrested for they said that I was not being arrested, it was just for their own safety as they didn’t know what I was capable of. I had a female friend with me whom they ordered to sit on the ground. They asked me if there was anyone else in the house and I said I had an assistant working late downstairs (a third year female student). Not entirely sure about the sequence of events but they went downstairs, my assistant reported that they had their guns pulled out and forced her upstairs. They said I had one chance to be honest before the search dogs came and asked whether there were any illegal drugs in the house, to which I replied I strongly doubted it but that I do have a friend staying with me and that I had no idea what was in his bedroom (but that I had a strict no drug or alcohol policy so the chances were very very slim).

When they found a growing tent with two clones in one of the downstairs bedrooms, they high fived one another according to my assistant and said this is what they came for. I explained that the friend I had with me was a mother of two young children and had never so much as smoked a joint. The officers didn’t agree on what to do, and I gathered they didn’t want to wait for a female officer to arrive so they eventually let the two women go without searching them. They kept complaining that they had to wait for some team from Paarl (I think) to take the tent etc. Eventually they only took a picture of the tent and only took my work cell phone, my weed and my smoking accessories etc.

Before the ladies were let go I asked the police officer if I could ask her to prepare my medication. He asked what kind of medication, and I replied quite a few. I said that I suffer from depression and bipolar and that earlier that day I’d been booked off retrospectively from 1 Jan 2019 to 1 Oct 2019 due to ongoing misdiagnoses. He asked what I was talking about and I said that I’d lost 30kg in the last 8 months and that I have a very severe infection eating away at my jaw and that I was referred to the reconstructive surgeon that same day. I was also diagnosed with a severe iron deficiency and needed to have an iron drip in hospital asap probably followed by stem cell therapy in about 3 months’ time. When he saw the bag of medication he asked what it was. I explained: 30 mg Yelate is an antidepressant, 25Mg Valdoxane is an antidepressant; 400Mg Dopaquel is a mood stabilizer as far as I know. I also had two different nasal sprays, asthma medication. I had a disinfectant mouth gel and was only allowed filtered water (I was allowed to take valpre sparkling water to the cell with me). I remembered that the doctor I’d seen that day also prescribed pills and that I needed to go fetch them downstairs. After this trip downstairs he then uncuffed me.

WHILST handcuffed, we probably went downstairs and upstairs 6 times. The stairs are EXTREMELY steep and that most definitely was a health hazard (the officers, without being hampered by handcuffs, preferred to use the outside (normal) stairs whenever they could.

I have no idea how many officers were in my house, but I remember interacting with two of them most of the time. As mentioned previously, the sequence of the events are unclear but our conversations included the following questions/topics:

They asked if I was a student; I said no I’d already obtained my degree. They asked in what, I said I’d done my master’s degree in French and German translation.

They said the only way I could probably afford my house was by drug dealing. I said I had a financial admin business. They asked me whether it was my house, I said I was renting it, they asked how much I pay, I said R13 284, they asked me what my financial business does, I explained. They wanted clarity so asked some more questions. They saw my bank statements (6 months) lying there and browsed through them, asking what they’d find there. I said “Sir, you’ll see that I’m deeply indebted”. They started looking through the office and seemed quite chuffed when they identified “huge amounts” on my bank statements and they correlated with the names written on the white board (my financial admin business clients).

Upstairs: Whilst looking through my things, they brought a bucket with a substance to me and asked what that was. I had to think a while and then said it was a sugar scrub I’d made. They asked whether there was weed in and I said no. They asked what the ingredients were, I said sugar, olive oil and maybe essential oils.

One officer found a bottle of poppers on my smoking table and asked what it was. I explained what it was and how it was used and he then proceeded to take a sniff in each nostril. He asked what he could do for an erection and I asked “like which cannabis strain?” and he said “no, something else” and I said well the poppers might help. He lay down on my bed and said it was a very comfortable bed. He asked how I’d afforded it, I said it was a gift, he said he also wanted friends like that. He asked me what my sexual preference was to which I replied homosexual but that I’d recently had an encounter with a female and that I wasn’t sure anymore. He asked if I knew X. I said “if it’s the guy with the white polo with the 420 number plate then I’ve heard of him and was warned against him but that’s it.” It turned out that that was in fact not X, and a friend told me that he’d heard that said X had an uncle in the police force.

They found one block of fudge and weed lollipops with “300” written on them. They asked what it referred to, I said “milligrams”. They bragged to the other officers that they’d found weed fudge and lollipops.

They asked me if there was any money in the house apart from the R690 on my table upstairs and whatever was in my wallet (they left my wallet and personal cell phone at home). I said there might be R250 for the cleaning lady downstairs and perhaps another R100 next to my computer.

They took my 2 dirty and broken bongs, all my lighters, a dab rig (I had to spell it out, he’d never heard of it), my blow torch, the weed I wanted to make dab from (100g outdoor and 65g indoor (All my weed). They asked where I got my weed from and I said from various sources. They asked about my home grown weed and I showed them an example of the (poor quality) I’d grown. They took my three scales, most of my empty baggies and bottles (but left a few nugs in perfect sight in my housemate’s room), all of my stickers, my little black book containing business ideas with a friend regarding “Daggabosch” – stickers, smoking accessories, growing accessories etc). They took pictures of everything. They left all my dab and various cannabis oils at least.

They asked me why the two plants in the tent were blue. I said I really didn’t know what they were talking about since I hadn’t seen those plants in the last month (my housemate is taking care of the two clones I was blessed with by a friend). I had to go downstairs and saw that it was just because of the LEDs that it appeared blue.

They asked whether they’d find any weed in my car and I said I really couldn’t remember, there might be a small baggie, a crusher and cones. They asked what cones were and I said you just fill them and explained that I can’t roll joints. One officer escorted me to the car. We took the cash that was there and came back inside (not sure how much, we left it at home).

After they’d finished at my place and apparently decided not to take down the tent, I was told that I had to prepare myself mentally. I asked what was to follow. I was told that I’d probably be put in a holding cell with the 23s (which I imagined to be a gang; Hannah Cornelius was abducted in neighbourhood). They said I’d probably be locked up until Monday 22 July. He asked what I thought about being put in a cell with them, I humbly said “Officer, if it’s my time it’s my time.” He said “Indeed”. I was again told to please prepare myself. I said I’ll probably cry and that there’s not much I could do about it. He asked whether I’d just said that I would cry and I said yes. They said I should put on something warm, I put on a leather jacket and he said that that’s probably not the best Idea. I eventually found a hoodie and he cut the strings (so that I wouldn’t kill myself apparently). I asked when I would be arrested and read my rights or whatever the procedure was before I could contact someone. They said that I’d been already been arrested (contrary to what they’d said earlier) and that I could call my lawyer at the station. One of the officers told the others to drive my car to the station. I was then driven to the police station alone with one officer. He drove quite slowly and took an alternative route. He said that he was not the arresting officer and that he couldn’t do anything for me but that there were many many loopholes that evening and that I please please please had to get my lawyer there immediately so that I wouldn’t have to spend the night. I was later told (after my lawyer came) that police bail had never been an option to start with and that I’d had to wait until the next morning. He then asked whether I know who called them and I said no. He said it was a dealer in the same complex where I live. He then explained that 1) they were now off of his case and 2) he could take over clients. The officer said if I wanted to deal in weed I needed to be inconspicuous or wait until it was legalised, which according to him would be before the end of the year.

Upon arrival at the station, I was escorted to a small room next to a braai area where they were having a braai and smoking a hookah. One of the officers asked whether I was a “white man” to which I replied “I’m white, yes”. The officer that had driven me to the station took me to a room where I could phone from, gave me my phone and closed the door behind me. A few minutes later someone else came and opened the door. I tried calling numerous people (really stressing since the officer had again insisted the necessity of getting a lawyer there asap) and eventually got hold of a lawyer that said he was on his way to Stellenbosch from Somerset West. I was then sat down in the room adjacent to where the braai was ongoing whilst the officer in civvies was writing down his report. They put my weed and bottles and everything on a table, then he called his colleagues and said “come guys, let’s show the boss we’re working”. Another officer or two came in and they all posed and smiled next to my weed and took a photo which they later apparently also shared to some group.

I asked if I could also take a pic and they said yes. A female officer at the station asked me what would happen if she ate one of the lollipops and I said she’d probably have the time of her life. She asked how much it was and I said I really couldn’t remember but that I could check on the menu. They returned to their braai just outside the room and I was left with the officer. I had access to my phone for a while and asked friends to please get me a joint or some weed to smoke once I got out of there, hoping it would be the same night.

Someone then came to tell the officer that my lawyer had arrived. He went to meet him but was back within 30 seconds and laughed to his colleagues that he’d sent him back home to bring proof that he is in fact a lawyer. The officer came back into the room and took out his ID card and showed it to me and said “just like I’m showing you ID now and you can see I’m a police officer your lawyer has to do the same”. I politely declined to look at his ID as it was the first time any documentation of any kind was shown to me. He finished his report and I signed a statement he’d written; something like “this is my weed”. I was then escorted to a different room where my personal belongings were to be signed in. I had to give in my medication and I told them that if I were to take my evening meds I was likely to pass out very soon. They said to take my meds. One officer asked if there was an empty cell, the other one said “he mos can’t sleep alone, put him in with the 23s”. I gathered that there were two cells available – one with 8 inmates and one with 1. On my way to the cell my lawyer was there and said that he can’t get police bail but that he’d be back in the morning. He was allowed to give me his jacket. I was then taken to the cell with one inmate and the officer woke him and told him to keep his eye on me. The officer left.

My cell mate got up and asked what time it was. I said probably around 1 in the morning. We spoke for a while, he said that he’d been locked up for 2 days for not having his permit with him. My lawyer shouted and asked whether I was ok. I confirmed that I was fine. I slept. Somewhere during the night they came to fetch me. I was unclear as to why so I took everything with me. I just had to sign something and was then escorted back to my cell. I went back to sleep. I was then woken up and called again. Thinking it was similar to the previous time, I left my jacket in my cell. It turned out that we were going to court and that we weren’t be returning to the cell. I asked the officer if I could fetch my jacket and he shouted and asked whether I was stupid. I got my jacket. When he saw the bag with my medication he again raised his voice and asked what was wrong with me.

We went to court in the back of a van. We waited in a cell and I sat on the ground. After a while I was called and my lawyer was there. He said that he hadn’t been able to find out which prosecutor had my case but that I had to be patient and that I would definitely be released that day (he later told me that they’d threatened (him) to put me in Pollsmoor until Monday. This was apparently a real possibility. I went back to the cell. A while later (I’d lost all concept of time by this stage) I was called again and my lawyer said I was free to go. He explained that I had in fact not yet been charged so there was no bail payable. We went to the police station where they returned my car keys. I later went back for my cell phone. The officer gave me a number to call so that it could be released. I’ve still not been able to get hold of anyone at that number.

Result: He was handcuffed, friends were let go, they took his weed and belongings (was only able to see and sign for “evidence” later at the station. So anything could have gone lost on the way to the station). He was placed in a holding cell overnight and let go the following morning whilst awaiting to go to court. Haven’t been charged yet. The police still have his phone and belongings and 100g outdoor, 65g indoor and a few grams of greenhouse. The prosecutor told his lawyer they will not prosecute ‘now’. No case has been made so there is no court appearance coming up. He has not received any belongings back from the police as of yet.