Baptism of fire for new police boss Matsoso 

…as he is slapped with a M1 million lawsuit barely two weeks after taking office 

Moorosi Tsiane 

BARELY two weeks after taking office, new police boss, Borotho Matsoso, has been slapped with a lawsuit over the continued excesses by police officers as they try to combat crime. 

In the latest turn of events, a Khubetsoana man, Ramokatile Makhetha, claims to have been assaulted by police officers and soldiers who raided his home on 27 April 2024 and confiscated his “licensed” gun. 

He filed a lawsuit in the High Court on Friday demanding M1 million from Police Commissioner Borotho Matsoso and the army chief Lieutenant General (Lt-Gen) Mojalefa Letsoela. 

Advocate Matsoso and Lt-Gen Matsoso are cited alongside Sub Inspector Mapetja, Inspector Tšeole, Woman Police Constable (WPC) Nkoebele, and Attorney General Rapelang Motsieloa as defendants in the matter. 

According to Mr Makhetha’s court papers, police officers and soldiers stormed his residential house uninvited and took his gun without saying a word. 

He avers that when requesting to know the names of the police officers and soldiers who invaded his house, they brutalised him as they demanded to see his gun license. It is not clear how he was able to identify Sub Inspector Mapetja, Inspector Tseole and WPC Nkoebele. 

“On or about 27 day of April 2024 police officers and soldiers wrongfully and or unlawfully invaded Plaintiff’s residential house. The plaintiff heard a violent knock on his door and enquired who was knocking (sic) but received no response. The plaintiff unlocked the door and immediately entered, uninvited a group of police and army officers some armed with?rifle guns,” reads Mr Makhetha’s affidavit. 

“Immediately thereafter one uniformed police officer proceeded to enter further into the premises and took the plaintiff’s gun which was placed on the chair without saying a word. The plaintiff then requested to know who the police officers and army personnel were but was scolded by one of the soldiers as to why he wanted to identify them. He continued to say they were soldiers and police officers, and that the uniform was a sufficient explanation. After a failed attempt to seek the identity of the police and army officers, the plaintiff then went to his bedroom to get a file with the documents they requested which included the gun license. Police officers comprising first (Sub Inspector Mapetja, second (Inspector Tšeole), and Third defendant (WPC Nkoebele) savagely brutalised the plaintiff with fists on his body, punched him with gun buds and kicked him on his body.” 

He claimed that during the assault, he had lost consciousness and woke up to very excruciating pain. 

Mr Makhetha said the police and soldiers had acted in a belittling and contemptuous manner as they threw his clothes on the floor while confiscating his gun as well as his cigarettes. As a result, he has experienced pain and suffering while also still experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. 

He states that because the police and soldiers were at all material times acting under the scope of their work, Adv Matsoso and Lt-Gen Letsoela are liable to pay him damages to the tune of M1 million. He also wants the court to order the defendants to return his gun. 

“Plaintiff claims against defendants jointly and severally a payment of the sum of M700 000.00 as damages and M300 000.00 for contumelia,” prays Mr Makhetha. 

By the time Sunday Express went to print Adv Matsoso and Lt-Gen Letsoela had not filed their responses. 

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed, and some have been lost by the police over the years. They largely stem from former police commissioner, Holomo Molibeli’s rein when they routinely assaulted suspects to extract confessions due to an insidious inability to properly investigate crimes.