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.
Featured Content
A tiny grave in the Klip Road Cemetery in Grassy Park outside Cape Town marks the failure of a system that was set up with the express purpose of detecting and preventing child abuse. So, has the country’s early warning system for child abuse broken down? In a powerful and in-depth investigation by journalism watchdog
Read more
This month marks 10 years since the massacre at Marikana, where police shot and killed 34 striking miners. Despite the findings of an independent inquiry, no one within the police has been held accountable. Yet, evidence suggests police abuses didn’t end on the day of the shooting. In the weeks after the massacre, scores of
Read more
Are you a mid-career journalist who wants to take your reporting on topical, public interest issues in South Africa to new heights? Viewfinder is offering a fellowship for reporters to investigate and then produce impact-driven journalism on accountability failures in the country. We are particularly interested in exposing abuses of power or inexcusable failures by
Read moreLatest from this investigation
IPID's position on the history and extent of statistical manipulation has been inconsistent. Days before presenting its annual report to Parliament, management revises it again. Meanwhile, calls for IPID to account continue to mount.
Read More
A data analysis confirms that IPID cases are completed near statistical reporting deadlines. Whistleblowers alleged many such cases were poorly investigated.
Read More
Pressed for time? Read these key takeaways for a concise summary of what Viewfinder's investigation of the cover-up at IPID found. Also, you can access all the most explosive whistleblower leaks from our investigation here.
Read More
Viewfinder exposes how underfunding, State Capture and statistical manipulation at IPID allowed violent criminals in the South African Police Service escape accountability.
Read More
Great @mediahackza overview of why data journalism is important, featuring key speakers at #AIJC2022 @viewfinder @adamoxford @Athi_Saba https://twitter.com/alastairotter/status/1591905294480801793
More than 35 African countries took part in #AIJC2022, the biggest gathering of African Investigative journalists. We spoke to participants: https://inside.mediahack.co.za/digging-data-at-the-2022-african-investigative-journalism-conference-2e99327d8e42
What goes on inside @SAPoliceService disciplinary proceedings for brutality & murder cases?
In 2021, GIJN member @viewfinderjourn accessed tapes from a proceeding & uncovered the secret workings of South African Police Services' disciplinary hearings. https://buff.ly/2VTeby5