More than 500 complaints against police during lockdown

Since the start of the national lockdown in March, the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (Ipid) has received more than 500 complaints against police officers.

Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola said the complaints dated from March 26 to June 10.

Of the total, the Eastern Cape has 20 discharge of firearm complaints and 58 assault cases, Cola told DispatchLIVE on Thursday.

“These complaints are in various case classifications, including death as a result of police action, discharge of official firearm by a police officer, torture and assault,” Cola said.

“In line with the Ipid Act, regulations and the standard operating procedures, all cases received were registered and allocated to the investigators for investigation and they are in various stages of the investigation process,” she said.

Among the cases, 11 are of death allegedly as a result of police action, she said. It also includes a complaint by a Komani couple. The young couple, Sima and Ntombi Mvandaba, were running a grocery errand when they were allegedly taken into police custody and held for three hours.

Cola said some of the cases are still on the court roll.

“In some instances, Ipid is directed by court to source additional information. In some cases, Ipid is awaiting feedback from various stakeholders, for example a postmortem report and ballistic reports. Ipid is also experiencing serious challenges with key witnesses that do not co-operate, in some instances the family members.”

A notable death that caused outrage was that of Collins Khosa. Of the 11 deaths, one has been ruled out as a death at the hands of police.

“One of the investigations is completed and the outcome of the postmortem has confirmed that the death was as the result of natural causes,” she said.

SA Police Union (Sapu) provincial secretary Leon Naude said none of the union members requested assistance with any cases against them.

“I can say two things about that [concerning the number of cases]. Number one, you must remember that whenever the police arrest somebody, they are already in a conflict situation with somebody. In some of the cases the people they arrest will obviously lay false charges against the police. That happens, I have seen it — and 99% of policemen are solid, good, hard-working people that are following the law,” he said.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) national spokesperson, Richard Mamabolo, said every form of investigation against police was a concern.

“What we want to see is a police service that is working with the people in ensuring that they keep people safe. Such allegations create doubt.

“It [investigation] is something that we live with to ensure that people do not flout processes. We will definitely be awaiting the outcomes [of the investigations]. In the bigger picture, we obviously have been concerned about the number of investigations that are going on against police,” he said.

Mamabolo said relations between police and communities had not been good.

“If communities [and police] do not work together, then criminals will continue roaming the streets.”