MOGOENG J
[79] There are factual differences between this case and K. There the policemen
were on duty and in uniform, driving a marked police vehicle. Ms K placed her trust
in them for those clear reasons, which created the link between the policemen‘s
employment and their subsequent misdeed. The factors here are admittedly more
tenuous.
[80] It is so that Mr van Wyk was not in uniform, that his police car was unmarked
and he was not on duty but on standby. But his use of a police car facilitated the rape.
That he was on standby is not an irrelevant consideration. His duty to protect the
public while on standby was incipient. But it must be seen as cumulative to the rest of
the factors that point to the necessary connection. He could be summoned at any time
to exercise his powers as a police official to protect a member of the public. What is
more, in that time and space he had the power to place himself on duty. I am therefore
satisfied that a sufficiently close link existed to impose vicarious liability on Mr van
Wyk‘s employer.
[81] In conclusion: The police vehicle, which was issued to him precisely because
he was on standby duty, enabled Mr van Wyk to commit the rape. It enhanced his
mobility and enabled him to give a lift to Ms F. Further, when Ms F re-entered the
vehicle, she understood Mr van Wyk to be a policeman. She made this deduction
from the dockets and the police radio in the vehicle.
identifiable as a policeman.
In other words, he was
And, in fact, he was a policeman.
Pivotal is the
normative component of the connection test. Beyond her subjective trust in Mr van
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