SOWETAN | Stop the rot in police service

Thanks to an observant commuter travelling in a taxi at the weekend, our country has witnessed once again the savage brutality of the so-called blue light brigade on civilians on our highways. 

No sooner had the video showing deputy president Paul Mashatile’s protectors emerged on social media, police moved to rightly condemn it and promise action against their members involved. 

The footage shows a group of heavily armed cops dragging, stomping and beating unarmed men before speeding off in their state-owned BMWs.

Mashatile was not on the scene when the incident happened on the N1 in Johannesburg. 

The victims of the incident are military trainees, according to police watchdog the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).

The circumstances leading up to the incident are yet to be established.

This attack must be seen in the broader context of periodic violence unleashed by some police on innocent civilians, the abuse of power and lawlessness by those entrusted to uphold the law.

The Ipid’s annual report gives us a glimpse into how police are often accused of violent crimes such as assault, torture, rape or even causing the death of people in or out of custody.

About 5,200 police officers were accused of wrongdoing in the 2021/22 financial year across the country. At the time of reporting, many of the cases were yet to be finalised.

But cases recorded as finalised painted a generally disturbing picture of poor accountability in the police.

The good news is that those referred by Ipid for criminal prosecutions were indeed appropriately dealt with by the courts and sentences were given on the basis of their legal merit.

But those which Ipid recommended for internal police disciplinary processes were either not acted upon at all – 32% of them – or the cops involved got off with meagre sanctions such as written warnings or docking salaries, even for serious crimes such as rape.

This points to a culture in the police system where accountability is shunned and the abuse of state power against civilians largely goes unpunished. 

The unavoidable result is emboldened impunity among officers who inherently believe that no matter how rogue they become, they are unlikely to be held accountable.

It is this culture and the public distrust it breeds, that has made many, including this newspaper, ask whether the violent thugs whose brutality was incidentally caught on camera will indeed face the full might of the law.