The police have been ordered to pay a woman R50 000 in damages after they falsely accused her of being a magosha (Prostitutes), her lawyer said today.
Jean-Paul Rudd said the North Gauteng High Court made the award to Charlene Stoker, from La Montagne in Pretoria, yesterday.
"On June 25, 2009, members of the South African Police Services arrested Ms Stoker, and her husband, a fellow policeman, in their vehicle parked in Magnolia Dal, Pretoria," he said in a statement.
Cops pulled up beside their car, and accused Stoker of being a prostitute. They also allegedly sprayed her then-husband with pepper spray and allegedly assaulted him at the Sunnyside cop shop holding cells.
"A case of public indecency for having sex in public was opened against the couple, but later withdrawn," Rudd said.
"She is now suffering from behavioural problems, anxiety, flashbacks, sleep disturbance, loss of self confidence, and social withdrawal."
Stoker's ex-husband has also instituted a claim against the minister of police.
Stoker said the award was "nowhere close" to what she wanted.
"The reason why I accepted it was because it is taking too long and the previous court case I had, the police officers didn't pitch.
"My name has been cleared, but they are getting away with murder. The fact is, I was publicly humiliated in a police station and called a prostitute."
She said she was just another South African "done in by our wonderful justice system".
"They made an assumption that since my ex-husband is white and I'm coloured, they made an assumption that I am a prostitute," Stoker said.
"This is not only police stepping out of line. It is prejudice, it is racism."
Comment from Gauteng police was not immediately available.
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