Missed targets, few resources and thousands of assault claims — the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s 2019/2020 annual report paints a bleak picture about keeping an eye on the men and women in blue.
There were 58,797 cases opened nationally against the South African Police between 2010 and 2020.
More than 3,600 of these were deaths as a result of alleged police action between 2011 and 2020, and 2,155 were those who died in police custody during the same period.
In the Eastern Cape, 646 complaints were submitted to Ipid.
More than half (402) were for assault.
A further 39 complaints were for torture.
The rest is made up of deaths while in police custody (33), deaths as a result of police action (40), discharging of firearms (110), rape (13) corruption (4) and not complying with the Ipid Act (5).
Of the 33 who died in police custody, eight were marked as suicide.
Institute for Security Studies (ISS) justice and violence prevention head Gareth Newham said police brutality was a major problem in SA.
“It’s a widespread problem and there are various factors to it.
“The clear one is that there is virtually no accountability,” he said.
Only 69 criminal convictions were secured across SA, with eight listed for the Eastern Cape in the annual report.
A further 175 disciplinary convictions led to the dismissal of 29 police officers for offences ranging from rape to death and assault, according to the report.
“Less than 5% of cases reported result in any action.
“So 95% of complaints to Ipid of police criminality or brutality result in no sanction or action taken against the officers,” Newham said.
He said it was likely that many instances of police brutality would go unreported.
“People don’t know how to report police brutality.”
Newham said Ipid was also seriously underfunded, with the entity given R355m for the 2020/2021 financial year.
“They pretty much close thousands of cases without actually investigating them.”
He said this was done to meet performance targets.
On police brutality, he said it continued unabated as there was no accountability.
“They know that their commanders do not take it seriously.
“Issues are not properly investigated and what we have seen is a relaxation of the internal disciplinary system by the police.”
He said most cases were either withdrawn or the officer was acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
During the first 40 days of the lockdown, Ipid recorded 589 complaints of assault against the police.
This is according to a report by ISS researcher David Bruce.
“One factor that contributes to the prevalence of violence by police is an absence of accountability,” Bruce wrote.
“The absence of accountability of police officers who abuse force is an ongoing problem in SA and many other countries.”
He said in a seven-year period ending in March 2019, only 2% of torture cases and 2.8% of assault cases led to a criminal conviction.
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.