The police minister and national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) have been given a second chance to defend a R1.3m lawsuit over alleged unlawful arrest, detention and malicious prosecution after blaming IT problems for their failure to file court papers on time.
The high court in KuGompo City has lifted a procedural bar that prevented them from defending the claim, finding that they had provided a reasonable explanation for the delay and had a potentially valid defence.
The lawsuit was launched in November 2023, but the minister and NDPP failed to file their plea within the prescribed period.
They subsequently approached the court for permission to defend the action, attributing the delay to changes to their IT systems.
In her judgment, acting judge Nicola Molony said the two officials were required to provide a full and reasonable explanation covering the entire period of the delay, as well as demonstrate that they had a genuine defence to the claim.
The court heard that supporting affidavits from an IT service engineer and an official identified as Mr Ngcama, together with documentation relating to a protection order, had been submitted in response to challenges to the evidence initially presented.
"Whilst the applicants addressed certain aspects in reply (such as confirmatory affidavits from the IT service engineer and Mr Ngcama, along with documentation relating to the protection order), it is clear that this occurred in order to address the respondent’s allegations that the founding affidavit contained hearsay.
"The replying affidavit therefore did not raise new matter, but rather confirmed that which already appeared in the founding affidavit.
"The explanation provided was, in my view, a sufficiently full and reasonable explanation, which addressed the period in issue," Molony said.
She found that the minister and NDPP had demonstrated a genuine defence with reasonable prospects of success.
The judge also found that allowing them to defend the lawsuit would not unfairly prejudice the claimant, apart from potentially delaying the finalisation of the case.
"There would be no obvious prejudice to the respondent[claimant], save that the finalisation of the matter may be delayed (which could be remedied by a costs order), were the relief sought to be granted.
"The respondent only has himself to blame for the matter (which is an unliquidated claim) being set down for default judgment on an unopposed motion court day, as it was clearly not appropriate to do so. The applicants should thus, in the interests of justice, be granted the opportunity to present their defence."
Molony noted that the minister and NDPP had already filed a plea on July 5 2024, despite subsequently seeking permission to do so.
She said this could be addressed by adjusting the court order.
The judge lifted the bar and ruled that the plea filed in July 2024 would stand as their formal response to the lawsuit.
She also ordered the claimant to pay the costs of the application.
