SAPS ARREST

A South African Police Service (SAPS) officer.
Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

Ipid investigating ten civilian deaths resulting from police action

A total of over 300 complaints have been received by the Ipid during the lockdown, with 10 invoilving civilian death.

SAPS ARREST

A South African Police Service (SAPS) officer.
Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) told Parliament that ten deaths have resulted from police action during the national lockdown.

The police watchdog was giving a brief to the National Assembly Joint Committees on Police and Security and Justice on Friday.

Ipid investigating ten cases of civilian death due to police action

Thuso Keafelakae, the Acting Chief Director for Investigations, says since the lockdown came into effect in March, a total of 828 complaints against the police were received. Out of those, 376 were related to the national lockdown.

Keafelakae said the majority of these cases were allegations of assault, with corruption and discharge of firearms also figuring in the number.

A total of 280 assault cases were reported, with seven corruption complaints, 79 discharge of official police firearms, as well as ten cases of civilian death at the hands of law enforcement.

Criminal elements in the police force

On Thursday, the Ipid’s Western Cape office presented figures to the provincial legislature, where it was revealed that 163 complaints have been received, with more than half of them lockdown-related.

Provincial Minister of Community Safety Albert Fritz urged police to act within the law.

“There have been numerous reports of SAPS acting heavy-handedly during the lockdown,” he said. “I will be meeting with the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata, and will urgently raise the matter of SAPS acting heavy-handedly towards residents. Brutality and heavy-handedness will not be tolerated and will be investigated by the relevant authority.”

Albert Fritz

The Western Cape accounts for 13 of the 17 officers around the country who have been arrested during the lockdown.

Earlier in the week, two police officers in East London were arrested on allegations of corruption after apparently demanding money from a business suspected of selling alcohol.

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana said;

“We certainly don’t keep [criminal] elements within our ranks who seem to have lost the memory of why they sought employment in the SAPS. We are saying therefore, the law must take its course.”

Thembinkosi Kinana
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