Spotlight on spike in SAPS torture cases in KZN

Kamini Padayachee

DURBAN: The staggering escalation of KwaZulu-Natal police torture cases, which rose by 137 percent in the past financial year, was as a result of a culture of “brutality and criminality” being fostered in the service.

This was the view of crime researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the Institute of Security Studies.

According to the latest Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) statistics, 45 cases of torture were reported in KZN in the 2014-15 financial year, compared to 19 the previous year. Assault cases also rose by 27 percent from 368 to 468 cases.

During the ANC’s recent national general council meeting (NGC), delegates raised concerns about the heavy-handed nature of the police when dealing with conflict and protests. The NGC resolved that police must be trained in crowd control to avoid incidents of brutality.

Institute of Security Studies senior researcher Gareth Newham said he believed the numbers were low, but this was due to under-reporting.

“Victims are simply too scared to report cases.”

He said that according to research, on average, there were 11 to 12 incidents of assault reported against officers daily across the country.

“Unless there is a concerted effort to deal with the issue, it will not change… The police leadership has been shown to be dishonest.”

Dr Nirmala Gopal, a senior lecturer in the department of criminology and forensic studies at UKZN, said research showed that brutality was historically part of police culture as they were trained to suppress black South Africans.

KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas said that apart from torture and assault being illegal, they could also weaken the police’s cases against suspects. “If the person can show they were assaulted with medical evidence, whatever the police have will be tainted.”

Police spokesperson Jay Naicker said the statistics showed that police were taking these cases seriously.