Dental technician Andries Hennop holds a bag of pipe tobacco he says he bought before lockdown. He has been acquitted after being caught with two cigarette cartons in his car during lockdown.A 42-year-old Krugersdorp man who spent hours behind bars after being arrested for possession of sealed cigarettes during lockdown has been acquitted in a test case brought by AfriForum.
The dental technician had maintained his innocence since his arrest, as he argued the cigarettes had been bought before the ban. “I think that even though I’ve always said the police officers do good work, they have to know the law. It does not help to have someone in uniform, wearing a badge and not knowing what the laws are. At the end of the day that’s the one thing I hope comes out of this. At least there will be one or two officers who know better about the law before they act on anything.”
He confirmed that AfriForum would now assist Hennop and another man, who was wrongfully arrested on ivory-related charges after the officers found a pair of old kudu horns in the boot of his car, to sue officials. warned that many, if not most, apparently trivial charges emanating from lockdown arrests would not stick in court.