COMMENT: Excessive force and lack of accountability characterise South Africa’s police force
Mpumalanga police commissioner Mondli Zuma has allegedly flouted regulations to purchase a flashy fleet.
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South Africa’s biggest city is ground zero for debates about the long-term effectiveness and constitutionality of militarised urban policing and how we imagine the post-Covid city
Brigadier Sifiso Cele denies the rape allegations, saying that they are part of a smear campaign and that criminal charges should have been opened if the accusations were true
Police deny allegations of a cover-up of Mondli Zuma’s accident in a state-owned luxury car
The City of Cape Town admits it monitors the social-media pages of housing activists but denies that this is spying, as tensions surrounding land occupations increase
The coronavirus lockdown has added new dimensions to a decades-long struggle for electricity in the far west of Soweto, where residents have challenged the situation fiercely in recent weeks
Tensions between the City of Cape Town and the police service over responsibilities mirrors the strain between national and local government
Forty-three people were shot dead in the first six months of this year in the Western Cape’s intractable taxi violence, while close to 100 have been arrested and 40 are on court rolls in connection with the conflict
The ideological aims of the criminal justice system in dysfunctional societies, like South Africa, is to indirectly legitimise the inequitable economic system
Public sector unions say the rampant Covid-19 pandemic will have a devastating effect on how the government is run and services are delivered
For 20 years ministers in charge of the police have been telling them to beat up or kill criminals
‘Less lethal’ weapons have resulted in deaths and severe injuries, yet there are still no guidelines
International crimes must be prosecuted and domestic jurisdictions are well placed to do this. Domestic prosecutions based on universal jurisdiction are on the rise
The guidelines follow a court order in the case of Collins Khosa, who died after an alleged assault by members of the army and the Johannesburg metro police
Brutality at the hands of those meant to protect us is just too common in our society and is mostly targeted at poor, black people
Excessive use of force by the security forces during the Covid-19 pandemic has overwhelmingly been experienced in poor communities
With the Covid-19 pandemic exposing many structural cleavages and spurring racial tensions, it is likely that the post-pandemic South Africa will encounter new challenges and setbacks on the road to reconciliation
Even where the case is a strong one, direct access to the highest court is a route only in truly exceptional circumstances
But City authorities vow to stop the erection of new shacks during the national lockdown
Supporting the lockdown rules and holding the government to account is a delicate balancing act
The state has not done everything right, but much depends on how cases are put together
The decision to rely on the police and army to enforce the lockdown was correct, but security force actions show both the weaknesses of the state and of systems for establishing social order
In the Johannesburg suburb, neat queues are enforced, physical distances maintained and fights stopped by its community policing forum
Now that we are in the second week of lockdown, South Africans seem to be taking their unwritten civic duty of snitching very seriously
Communication minister will keep Cabinet perks during her two months of special leave
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed heavy-handed, brutal and, at times, lethal action by some members of the police
Regulation uncertainty leaves slap-happy police and soldiers to decide when people should or shouldn’t be allowed on the streets
Occupants from buildings subjected to raids in Operation Fiela have taken the matter to court
Residents of 11 buildings in Johannesburg have challenged the constitutionality of the raids they were subjected to in the high court
After news that house songstress Lady Zamar opened a rape case against hip-hop crooner Sjava, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival has removed him from its 2020 lineup
Infraction knows no nationality, but identifying perpetrators is necessary to control it