A resident of Kokotela informal settlement is forced to do pushups on 13 April, after breaking the rules of the national lockdown. Photographer Nigel Sibanda recounts: ‘I joined an early morning patrol with the SA Police Service and SA National Defence Force patrolling the streets in Lawley, south of Johannesburg. They were looking for people breaking the rules, which they did find – in their numbers actually. Some were told to go back home, but I guess to ensure a lesson was learnt, others were made to do pushups.’
According to statistics released by the South African Police Service (Saps) to the MEC of community safety in Gauteng, just five of 147 cases reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) against police officers have been resolved.
This was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for community safety Faith Mazibuko in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s questions tabled in the provincial legislature.
The DA has raised concerns at the snail’s pace in which investigations against police brutality are going.
“It is worrying that our people continue to suffer and die in the hands of the police yet there is a delay in ensuring justice for the victims and their families,” said DA’s Michael Shackleton.
“Justice delayed is justice denied for the victims and their families, and it is high time that the IPID speeds up the investigations in these pending cases.”
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According to Mazibuko’s document, there is no crime code for police brutality. However, there have been 10 deaths so far that occurred as a result of police actions and 16 deaths in police custody.”
There were four known cases of rape by police, with one taking place in police custody in 2018.
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