By Lukas Muntingh and Gwenaelle Dereymaeker Since the start of service-delivery protests in Mothotlung in the North West, four people died at the hands of the police. On several occasions, the police ministry has made statements defending its corps. The government’s arguments can be summarised as follows: (i) There is no culture of impunity in […]
ICD
Posted inNews/Politics
SAPS’ rogue cops hide behind a faltering watchdog
An annual report – be it corporate or government – is less about telling stakeholders what’s happened, than glossing over failures and organisational cankers. When it documents the activities of a paramilitary, the public relations varnish hides the stench of real corpses. The annual report of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), tasked with controlling illegal […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Police Minister Mthethwa eyes the Rambo costume
Why is it that every civilian tasked with overseeing of the SA Police Service transmogrifies into Rambo? Successive national commissioners and ministers have within days of appointment perfected gunslinger swaggers and begun laconically promising that cops will ‘shoot first’ and ‘shoot to kill the bastards’. The exception, Nathi Mthethwa, undoubtedly the best police minister that […]