15 October 2024
Juma Igiranieza was assaulted by police officers during an unexpected raid at his workplace on 7 November. The incident was caught on CCTV. He plans to sue the state for damages. Archive photo: Mary-Anne Gontsana
Three police officers facing torture charges in the Wynberg Regional Court in Cape Town intend to plead not guilty to the charges when the trial starts next year.
Colonel Delmore Manuel, Constable Jermaine Conradie, and Constable Leigh-Ann Maroon are accused of assaulting Juma Igiranieza, a barber, during a raid at his workplace, Perfect Touch Boutique and Salon, in Mowbray on 7 November 2023.
GroundUp published CCTV footage on 10 November showing several officers, one in plain clothes, assaulting Igiranieza. In the footage, at least two officers participated directly in the assault, while other officers appeared unconcerned. Igiranieza was pummelled, struck repeatedly with a wooden object, and smothered with plastic.
On Monday, the accused made a brief appearance before Magistrate Karel Meyer. The trio were arrested on 22 April 2023, and are currently out on R2,000 bail each.
Lawyers representing the accused told Meyer that they had reviewed the video footage of the incident. When asked by Meyer whether their clients would plead guilty or not guilty, all three lawyers said, “not guilty”.
The matter was postponed to 26 March 2025 for trial.
In GroundUp’s previous report, we asked SAPS whether the officers were still on active duty, to which SAPS spokesperson Frederick Van Wyk merely said that it was an internal matter and that “due process regarding disciplinary actions are under way”. It is still unclear if the officers are on active duty but some of the accused appeared to be leaving court in SAPS vehicles after previous court appearances.