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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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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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
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The mother of a dead child has given Viewfinder access to the tapes of a disciplinary hearing of the police officer accused of killing her son. The officer was found not guilty, though the police watchdog had concluded he had a case of “murder” and “misconduct” to answer. The tapes reveal the inner workings of
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On a Friday evening in December 2013, at the start of the school holidays, 15-year-old Damian Ahrendse was shot and killed near his mother’s house in Wesbank, on the Cape Flats. Witnesses say that a police officer pulled the trigger. An autopsy report concluded that Damian had been shot in the back. Yet, the policeman
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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
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Policemen have been accused of nearly 1,000 rapes since 2012. Many of these suspects stand accused of abusing the authority of their positions to aid them in these crimes, a new investigation by Viewfinder has found. Yet, police management rarely disciplines or dismisses the officers involved. On the afternoon of 6 June 2014, 36-year-old Ermelo
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Great SA investigative journalism opportunity at @viewfinderjourn https://twitter.com/viewfinderjourn/status/1557636792177795072
Are you a mid-career journalist who wants to to take your reporting to the next level? The Viewfinder 2022 Accountability Journalism Fellowship could be just what you're looking for! Find out more and apply here: http://viewfinder.org.za/viewfinder-2022-accountability-journalism-fellowship/
#InvestigativeJournalism
Are you a mid-career journalist who wants to to take your reporting to the next level? The Viewfinder 2022 Accountability Journalism Fellowship could be just what you're looking for! Find out more and apply here: http://viewfinder.org.za/viewfinder-2022-accountability-journalism-fellowship/
#InvestigativeJournalism
