Johannesburg - A total of 337 people died at the hands of police in the six months between April and September last year, according to the latest available statistics from the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
While 126 people died in police custody, 211 people died as a result of police action in 197 incidents. In addition, Ipid also investigated 1 924 cases of assault and 53 rapes by police officers in that six-month period last year.
Of the deaths in police custody, the majority happened in Gauteng (32), closely followed by KwaZulu-Natal (29) and the Eastern Cape (16).
Most cases of death as a result of police action happened in Gauteng (54), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (48) and the Eastern Cape (33).
However, the Western Cape leads when it comes to assaults by police – 513 cases, just more than double the number recorded in Gauteng (254), followed by the Free State (376) and the Eastern Cape (217).
The Ipid report was tabled in Parliament just days before Friday’s release of the national crime statistics.
It is expected to be discussed by the police committee after the parliamentary recess. MPs will this week visit Gauteng police stations and the Central Firearms Registry in Pretoria.
In the majority of incidents of death as a result of police action, or 72 cases, death happened in the course of an arrest – Ipid recorded 60 cases of death by an SAPS service firearm and one of torture - while deaths also occurred in four “crowd management incidents”.
In 26 instances, death resulted from “negligent handling of an official vehicle”, while another 12 incidents of “domestic violence deaths” show shootings with official firearms and one assault. In 39 cases death occurred during the commission of a crime.
Of the 53 cases of rape against policemen Ipid investigated in the six-month period ending September last year, 16 took place while the officers were on duty.
In one case “a member… on duty allegedly raped a mentally ill person in the bushes”; another rape happened in a police vehicle; and another policeman on duty “raped a minor by taking her from her parents under the false pretence of interrogating her at the police station”, according to the Ipid report.
Overall, Ipid received 2 821 new cases in the six months between April to September 2013. Together with the 3 310 carried over from the previous 2012 financial year, its total workload stood at 6 131 cases in that six-month period. On average, 30 percent of cases were finalised within the target of 90 days.
Ipid forwarded 485 recommendations for criminal prosecution to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), including 384 cases of assault; 22 cases of rape; three cases related to death in police custody; 21 cases related to death as a result of police action; and seven cases of corruption.
The majority of recommendations for criminal prosecution happened in the Western Cape (114), followed by the Free State (93), Northern Cape (84). Only 12 such recommendations were made in Gauteng and 26 in KwaZulu-Natal.
From the 485 recommendations for criminal prosecution, in 39 cases the NPA declined to prosecute, 16 went ahead and in 430 more information was requested.
The Star