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Statistics from South Africa’s police watchdog show that officers implicated in crimes such as murder, rape, torture, and assault are almost never held accountable — even when the evidence against them is strong.

The Above the Law investigation built on the findings of the earlier Killing the Files series, shifting the focus from the failings of watchdog investigators to the managers and commanders in the South African Police Service (SAPS). It revealed the powers and loopholes these mid-ranking officers exploit to protect colleagues accused of serious crimes.

As this investigation showed, these cover-ups sometimes enabled violent officers to reoffend. The project was also notable for publishing the Police Accountability Tracker — an online dashboard containing details of more than 47,000 criminal complaints against the police in South Africa.

This project won the prestigious Global Shining Light Award (2023); was a category runner-up at Fetisov Journalism Awards (2022); and, was shortlisted for a Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism (2022).

Read the exposé which launched the project here.

Read a story which revealed the cover-up of a brutal murder by a problem officer here

March 20, 2022June 19, 2025

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