South African
Police Service Brutality On Rise In South Africa: Officers Accused Of Killing, Raping Citizens
A
bloodied demonstrator reacts after he was shot with a rubber bullet by police
during a protest over evictions in Johannesburg, on March 18, 2015.
Photo:
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
More South Africans have died
this year at the hands of police compared with last year, causing a spike in
civil liability claim payouts, according to a watchdog group’s analysis
released this week. The report from the Independent Police Investigative
Directorate, a national law enforcement accountability organization, revealed
Wednesday that police-involved rapes and torture incidents have also increased
over last year.
There is concern that costly civil liability claims – currently
estimated at 26 billion rand ($1.8 billion) -- would strain the South African Police Service national
budget. The national police commissioner has downplayed the report and blamed
the volume of claims on a highly litigious climate.
“The SAPS is making provision for the possibility that a third of
its national budget may have to be paid out to cover for criminal and civil
claims against SAPS members, who in part are completely without discipline,”
Dianne Kohler Barnard, a member of the South African parliament, told South
African newspaper group Independent
Online.
Police Commissioner Gen. Riah Phiyega had doubts that the agency would
pay out all of the claims against officers. "We will take our time to
defend whatever is defendable to ensure whatever we pay is meritable,” Phiyega
said in a media briefing Wednesday.
There were 244
recorded deaths in police custody this year, up by 4 percent from 234 in 2014,
according to the watchdog group’s report.........
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