Viewfinder’s Police Accountability Tracker is an interface to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's (IPID) database of more than 47,000 complaints registered against the police between April 2012 and March 2020. Users can use the filters to home in on any police station for an overview of cases registered there. Users can also locate any individual case for a "progress report", as at March 2020. The data demonstrates that police officers implicated in violent crimes routinely escape accountability.
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After sustained criticism in Parliament this year, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has issued a circular to call out its commanders for their “inaction” and “reluctance” when officers under their command are implicated in serious crimes. Issued on 8 October, the circular warns that police supervisors who fail to act “promptly” in such cases
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In January 2020, Athlone police Sergeant Giovanni Gabriels led a team of constables in a joint operation with the army. At the time, he already had several watchdog findings for assault against him, and he was on a final written warning. Days after the operation, one of the men arrested, 36-year-old Adam Isaacs, died in
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The South African Police Service (SAPS) has found Athlone station commander Colonel Mark Adonis guilty of misconduct for failing to act on torture and murder allegations against officers on his staff. He was given a “verbal warning”, according to former police commissioner General Khehla Sitole, who was responding to a parliamentary question. A conviction of
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Whenever a police officer is implicated in a crime, a disciplinary hearing is key to restoring accountability and integrity within the service. In May 2021, National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole admitted to Parliament that discipline management within the South African Police Service needed an overhaul. With police disciplinary hearings happening behind closed doors, could
Read MoreIn January 2020, the army and police barged into Wasiela Isaacs’ family home in Athlone on the Cape Flats and arrested her son, Adam. Days later, he died in hospital from blunt force trauma injuries. Two years on, as the Isaacs family awaits justice, a Viewfinder and Carte Blanche investigation has revealed that one of
Read MoreIn 2014, Glebelands block committee chairman Zinakile Fica died in police custody in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal. A forensic pathologist concluded that an old apartheid-era asphyxiation method called “tubing” was likely the cause of the heart attack he had suffered. To what extent do police still use this terrifying torture tactic today? A Viewfinder and Carte Blanche
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On average, police in South Africa kill someone every day. Viewfinder has now published the police watchdog’s database on these killings, along with other complaints of police brutality and corruption: more than 47,000 such cases registered between 2012 and 2020. A new Police Accountability Tracker dashboard, which houses this data, allows anyone in South Africa
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Thank you all for your vote of confidence! Delighted to announce that I have joined @viewfinderjourn as operations manager. ☺️ #accountabilityjournalism #impactediting https://twitter.com/tcmallinson/status/1521397145592635392
I have some personal news… Would you like me to share it?
Honoured to have journalist Daneel Knoetze named as the recipient of the @Gatefieldco @PJPAlive People Journalist for Africa award for his #AboveTheLaw investigation. Congratulations too @berhe_lucy @mrmacaronii
Meet the winners of the 2021 @Gatefieldco People Journalism Prize for Africa.
- People Journalist for Africa @viewfinderjourn
- People Journalist for Informed Commentary @berhe_lucy
- People Newsmaker for Social Justice @mrmacaronii
http://gatefield.co/gatefields-people-journalism-prize-for-africa-2021-winners/