Viewfinder's first documentary film revisits the murder of Letsekang Thokoane, a young shopkeeper, by police during the farm worker strike in De Doorns in 2013. Why were the killers not held accountable? From the scene of the murder in Elubisi township a paper trail leads us to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's head office in Pretoria to ask this question.
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We condensed our findings on SAPS brutality and non-accountability into a short animation. Come up to speed in around a minute flat.
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Viewfinder exposes how underfunding, State Capture and statistical manipulation at IPID allowed violent criminals in the South African Police Service escape accountability.
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The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has investigated the killings and deaths in custody of dozens of children since 2012. Almost none of these cases have resulted in convictions. As the justice system moves swiftly on the Nathaniel Julies murder case in Eldorado Park, the police watchdog finds itself at a crossroads. This week IPID’s new head will visit some of the directorate’s provincial offices to give “strategic direction” to ensure that justice is served for police brutality victims and their families. But, can her leadership overcome years of cover-up and dysfunction?
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Is the Independent Police investigative Directorate (IPID) using autopsy findings of “natural causes” as a way to short circuit police brutality investigations? The decision to clear police of wrongdoing in the circumstances leading up to the death of Petrus Miggels in Ravensmead on the first day of lockdown raises questions about the police watchdog’s processes.
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Our analysis of police corruption data has revealed some of the ways in which police officers solicit bribes from the public. Now, the Covid-19 lockdown has created conditions for extortion and other forms of police corruption to flourish.
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South Africans have shared many videos and accounts of abuses by police officers deployed to enforce the national lock down. But, prior trends in police brutality shows us that the problem is a deeply rooted and pervasive one.
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IPID’s new head has suspended a number of officials, including national head of investigations Matthews Sesoko.
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