[Debate] (Fwd) More on cost of Durban police brutality

Patrick Bond pbond at mail.ngo.za
Mon Jul 16 05:33:28 BST 2012 

  KZN cop violence a concern: IPID

July 12 2012 at 06:00am
By Sapa

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supplied

The high degree of police violence in some KwaZulu-Natal cases reported 
to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was worrying, 
the directorate said on Wednesday.

"Once the full extent of the alleged atrocities committed by the 
policemen come out, as South Africans we should do everything (to 
ensure) that such atrocities are never (again) committed in our name," 
executive director Francois Beukman said in notes prepared for delivery 
in Durban.

He was visiting the families of victims of police criminality.

In particular, IPID's investigation into alleged brutality by members of 
the Cato Manor organised crime unit was a priority, as it was the 
biggest matter IPID, or its predecessor the Independent Complaints 
Commission, had undertaken.

"It is no secret that more arrests and charges will be added to the 
current 71 that the accused are facing," Beukman said.

The 18 members of the unit, who have been accused of hit squad 
activities, face 71 charges which include 14 of murder, 14 of unlawful 
possession of ammunition, 14 of unlawful possession of firearms, and 
four of house-breaking.

They were arrested last month by a joint Hawks and IPID task team.

Beukman also commended investigators who arrested five of the six 
protection security services team members in the Cavendish SAPS who 
allegedly sexually assaulted a man with a broken broomstick.

A sixth suspect handed himself over to police on Friday.

"The criminal actions of the individuals implicated in the matters that 
I referred to erode the confidence of the public in the police," Beukman 
said.

"We will do whatever it takes to ensure that the police do their work in 
a manner that respects the laws of the country, and honours the memories 
of the many heroes who gave up their lives for a democratic South Africa 
and the principles contained in our Constitution." - Sapa

***



The expensive side of police brutality and recklessness

  * MANDY DE WAAL
  * SOUTH AFRICA <http://dailymaverick.co.za/section/south-africa>
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  *
  * 13 JULY 2012 01:08 (SOUTH AFRICA)













<http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-07-13-the-expensive-side-of-police-brutality-and-recklessness>

The SAPS has earmarked R11-billion for the payment of civil claims -- 
money that could be spent developing or upgrading deteriorating assets 
-- but which may well be spent on lawyers and payouts to victims of 
police brutality or ineptitude. What's the cause of this massive 
contingency bill that taxpayers will ultimately have to pay for? MANDY 
DE WAAL investigates.

Justice Mabasa was staying with some friends in a block of flats in 
Durban when he was wrongfully arrested by the police. The 25-year-old 
student was doing a course at the Durban University of Technology in 
2007, when he was erroneously accused of breaking and entering by the 
caretaker of the building. The caretaker had heard glass breaking before 
seeing Mabasa and registering that he didn't know the young man. He 
automatically assumed Mabasa was the criminal and phoned the police, who 
swooped in to arrest the student.

Without even verifying whether Mabasa was the guilty party, the police 
dragged him from his bed and attacked him while the caretaker sprayed 
pepper spray in the student's eyes. The young man was detained at a 
police station but had to be taken to a hospital for the injuries he 
sustained during the assault. Afterwards he went to Westville Prison and 
was only released after the caretaker brought an affidavit to say he'd 
made a mistake. Charges against Mabasa were dropped and, after a 
traumatic ordeal, he was released.

The Pretoria News recentlyreported 
<http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/burglar-sues-after-false-arrest-1.1319970> that 
a local high court judge found the SAPS were completely at fault in 
Mabasa's case and lambasted the arresting officer for not even bothering 
to investigate the information before making the arrest. Mabasa will now 
be suing the SAPS for unlawful arrest, detention and assault. His claim 
is pegged at about R35-million.

Civil claims against the SAPS are rising. In its last financial report 
(2010/11), a staggering R11-billion was earmarked by the police for 
possible legal claims against the SAPS for false arrests as well as for 
legal costs, assault, shootings, damage to property and other "police 
actions".

Speaking about the claims issue late last year, police minister Nathi 
Mthethwa said: "A total amount of R 106,239,616.81 was paid in legal 
costs as a result of 8,074 civil claims brought against the SAPS for the 
2010/11 financial year. Payment of legal costs is not linked to a 
particular police station but if an officer is sued for whatever act of 
misconduct, it is the state that suffers financially and we cannot allow 
such things to become the norm."

The minister then called for stricter monitoring of police members' 
conduct, saying that if this happened the flood of lawsuits against the 
SAPS would decrease dramatically.

Gareth Newham and Lizette Lancaster of the Institute of Security Studies 
suggest the SAPS should rather look at their hiring and training 
procedures, which they assert could have affected the quality of 
policing and subsequent claims.

"International experiences of mass police recruitment have typically 
resulted in unintended yet significant outcomes," Newham and Lancaster 
write in a paper on the shift in policetrends 
<http://allafrica.com/stories/201202290981.html>. "Police command and 
control systems take strain as frontline managers are required to 
supervise larger number of inexperienced and inadequately trained 
officials. Common consequences include increasing levels of police 
misconduct, corruption and brutality."

Figures offered by Newham show that the total SAPS personnel force has 
grown from 132,310 to 190,199 in eight years, representing a growth of 
about 50%. During this period the SAPS has witnessed the arrest, 
conviction and imprisonment of one police chief (Jackie Selebi) for 
corruption, and the suspension of another (Bheki Cele).

In their report Newham and Lancaster note the SAPS has been in the news 
frequently, but for all the wrong reasons: police brutality, corruption 
and misconduct have become an almost a daily feature of the news.

"In 2010, national police commissioner general Bheki Cele conceded to an 
increasingly frustrated Parliament Portfolio Committee on Police that 
the problem was "We have not been big on quality, we have been big on 
quantity. People have been thrown in by chasing quantity rather than 
quality."

Though it may have been easy to blame the "troops", the real reason for 
the predicament was weak leadership and poor management. "Those tasked 
with leading the police had not thought through the consequences and had 
not strengthened recruitment and management systems," the security 
institute pair state.

In a presentation on crime and policing in SA, Newham spells out the 
legacy new police commissioner Mangwashi Phiyega faces. He states that 
yesteryear's bad strategic decisions have diminished special policing 
and this problem has been compounded by "uneven and weak senior 
management".

Another big challenge to changing perceptions is the way the police were 
positioned in the past. "They must not be set up in opposition to 
society, which the 'war on crime' rhetoric does. Communities must trust 
and not fear the police," Newham advises. "Police safety is at stake 
when there is fear from communities."

In his presentation, Newham stresses that a fundamental shift in the 
approach to policing is crucial. "Political and police leadership must 
focus on putting in place mechanisms to improve the professionalism of 
the SAPS that supports 'smart' rather than 'tough' policing. This will 
be in the interests of both police members and the broader community."

Unfortunately this kind of change, even if it ever happens, would come 
too late for the likes of Mabasa and the taxpayer. Mabasa will have to 
live with the trauma of his experience for the rest of his life, while 
ultimately the taxpayer will foot the bill for his claim -- and other 
claims - against the SAPS.

Paying more than $1.3-billion a year would stretch the budget of many a 
rich country in the world, let alone a country with as many problems as 
South Africa has today. And yet, somehow, buried in the veritable flood 
of bad news that SA's bad governance generates every day, this 
outrageous amount gets to be almost tolerated. This money could be 
better used by training competent and attentive people, building many 
more police stations, improving forensics and developing smart community 
initiatives.

But in a country so beset by incompetence and corruption, the 
R11-billion happens to be enough for just another brick in the wall of a 
gigantic non-delivery mechanism that's called the South African 
government.*DM*

Read more:

  * The SA Police financialreport
    <http://www.saps.gov.za/saps_profile/strategic_framework/annual_report/2010_2011/8_annual_financial_statements.pdf>

  * Page 190
  * KZN cop violence a concern: IPID inDaily News
    <http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/kzn-cop-violence-a-concern-ipid-1.1339460>
  * Metro cops caught on video assaulting but still on duty inCity Press
    <http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/Metro-cops-caught-on-video-assaulting-but-still-on-duty-20120430>
  * Bully cops beware: Police watchdog gets a new set of teeth inMail &
    Guardian
    <http://mg.co.za/article/2012-03-06-bully-cops-beware-police-watchdog-gets-a-new-set-of-teeth>
  * Top cop appointment an insult, says police union inCity Press
    <http://www.citypress.co.za/Politics/News/Top-cop-appointment-an-insult-says-police-union-20120613>
  * In South Africa the Rule of Law Does not Apply to the Political
    Elite byGareth Newham
    <http://www.polity.org.za/article/in-south-africa-the-rule-of-law-does-not-apply-to-the-political-elite-2012-06-01>

  * The Institute of Security Studies' Crime and JusticeHub
    <http://www.issafrica.org/crimehub/>
  * SAPSAnnual Report
    <http://www.saps.gov.za/saps_profile/strategic_framework/annual_report/index.htm>


/Photo: Policemen open fire as protesting miners and residents burn 
tyres near Impala Platinum's Rustenburg mine, February 16, 2012, as a 
month-long strike at the world's second-largest producer of the precious 
metal turned violent.  REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
/

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