Imagine spending a cold winter night in an ice cold, smelly jail cell, with nothing but a bench to keep you company. This is a reality for many people in South Africa.
Being arrested, that alone is very traumatic and humiliating – especially if you are not guilty of the particular crime, let alone being detained. Wrongful arrests and detention are rife in South Africa and not much seems to be done by our justice system to ensure that this does not keep happening.

Want some advice? Well, I have never been arrested but I know someone who was. When you are being arrested, as confused and terrified as you are, try to stay calm so you can assess the whole situation. Having enough information about how it all took place might help your case going forward. I don’t understand how in this day and age the police still go around beating people up even when they are not resisting arrest. You most likely have a smartphone – use it to capture anything that might happen and put it on social media. I would be careful and cautious if I was a cop doing unjustifiable things. You are innocent until proven otherwise. Know your rights! A warrant must always be issued before an arrest is made and your rights must be read out.

Did you know you can sue the police? Well, you can and you probably should. Detained for more than a year, being unfairly treated, not being there for his family, my neighbor went through hell. Due to the cold conditions in prison, he now has arthritis and can not work. Why are the people who were handling his case still in office; some with promotions now?
Our justice system is almost non-existent. I have absolutely no faith in the police. They drive around the township all day whistling and catcalling girls in the street, shouldn’t that be a crime too, by the way? When you call them with an emergency they redirect your call until your battery dies.

Everyone has a right to freedom and security that is acknowledged in Section 12 of the Constitution of South Africa. Remember, a police officer may only arrest a person without a warrant in exceptional circumstances. Had my neighbour not had an old friend take on his case and find all the loopholes there were, who knows how much longer he would have stayed behind bars awaiting trial? No witnesses and evidence proved he was guilty. The guy was just lucky he got the help he needed.

Many people are serving real time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. Some die in there still hoping and literally praying someone will come to their rescue or the system will finally find its faults and do the right thing and release the people.
How many people do you know who have successfully sued the police? Not many; I’ll answer that one for you! The system is broken. In 2019, the Minister of Police was ordered to pay R600 000 in damages to a teenager who was unlawfully arrested and detained. This is the most famous claim in the last 5 years. I want to know how the same, if not the only institution that is meant to protect and serve innocent citizens, is the same institution that tramples on our rights and still covers its tracks. Why are the prisons and holding cells called rehabilitation centers when there is abuse and ill treatment inside? How will the prisoners come back better people, if they do come back at all?
We are governed by people who should be out on farms enjoying their pension. Now if that doesn’t scream corruption, nothing else will. Wrongful arrests and detention violate Section 10 of the Constitution of South Africa which is put in place to recognize citizens’ rights. Freedom is not free and the struggle continues!