O’REGAN J The facts [2] The parties agreed to a statement of facts and so no evidence was led in the High Court. According to that statement, on 26 March 1999, Ms K who was then just 20 years old, had a date with a boyfriend at the Bundu Inn. The arrangement was that he would take her home at the end of the evening. At midnight, when the Inn closed, they chose to go to another bar. There a former girlfriend of her companion turned up and an argument broke out between Ms K and her companion. Shortly after, she asked him to take her home but he refused and she decided to find a telephone to call her mother to collect her. There was no phone at the bar and she decided to walk to a nearby petrol station. It was now approximately 4 am. [3] At the petrol station, the attendant informed her that the phone could not be used for outgoing calls. She did not accept this and begged him to let her use the telephone. At that time, a car drew up and a policeman in full uniform came into the shop. The policeman, Sergeant Nathaniel Rammutle, was the driver of the car which was an official South African Police Service vehicle. Sergeant Rammutle approached Ms K and, according to the agreed statement, addressed her in fluent Afrikaans to ask where she was going. She answered that she really wanted to go home and he offered to take her there. She accepted his offer and climbed into the car in which there were two other policemen, Sergeant Ephraim Gabaatlholwe and Sergeant Edwin Nqandela who were also both in uniform. All of the policemen were on duty at the time. She did not know any of the policemen. 2