Honourable Deputy Minister of Police, Ms Maggie Sotyu
Executive member of the National Press Club, Ms Doreen Guff
Senior Management of the ICD
Members of the National Press Club
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for this opportunity to once again brief you on the work of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) as set out in the ICD’s Annual Report 2010/11 that was tabled in Parliament this morning. We are especially honoured to have the Deputy Minister among us.
Since the Deputy Minister has already spoken about other matters relating to the work of the ICD, my presentation will focus mainly on the statistics relevant to the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.
The ICD received five thousand eight hundred and sixty nine (5 869) cases during the period under review. Of these, seven hundred and ninety seven (797) were notifications of deaths in police custody and deaths as a result of police action.
One hundred and two (102) were domestic violence non-compliance matters, whereas two thousand four hundred and ninety three (2 493) were allegations of criminal offences and two thousand four hundred and seventy seven (2 477) were allegations of misconduct alleging contravention of police standing orders and regulations. If you add all that up it gives you five thousand eight hundred and sixty nine (5 869).
In percentage terms, deaths amounted to 14 per cent, domestic violence non-compliance to two per cent, whereas criminal offences and misconduct amounted to 42 per cent each. That gives you an indication of the proportion of cases that we dealt with per class.
If you compare how these numbers have changed relative to the year before, you will note that deaths decreased by seven per cent, from 860 to 797. Domestic violence non-compliance matters decreased by 19 per cent from, 126 to 102 cases. Criminal offences increased slightly by one percentage point, from 2 462 to 2 493. Misconduct complaints decreased by 15 per cent, from 2 929 to 2 477. Overall there was an 8 per cent decrease across the board. From a provincial perspective, all provinces except for Gauteng and Limpopo experienced decreases ranging from 7% to 23%.
I’m now going to focus on the seven hundred and ninety seven (797) deaths in police custody and deaths as a result of police action. In percentage terms, deaths in police custody amounted to 32 per cent of all deaths, whereas deaths as a result of police action accounted for 68 per cent.
Thirty one per cent of all deaths occurred in KwaZulu-Natal. Gauteng experienced the second highest proportion at 23 per cent. Is it important to note that the numbers of deaths in custody and deaths as a result of police action decreased in six provinces, except for the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Northern Cape which experienced increases ranging from four to 28 per cent.
When we break down the deaths further, you will note that deaths in police custody amounted to two hundred and fifty seven (257) and deaths as a result of police action amounted to five hundred and forty (540). Forty four per cent of deaths in police custody were due to natural causes, 25 per cent were as a result of injuries sustained in police custody and 31 per cent of the deaths were from injuries sustained prior to custody. The role of the police in these deaths is limited or negligible.
Of the five hundred and forty (540) deaths as a result of police action, eighty per cent occurred during the commission of a crime, during an escape (or attempt), during arrest or during investigation. Most of the deaths as a result of police action occurred during arrest, this is especially the case in KwaZulu-Natal, where eighty seven (87) deaths occurred under such circumstances. In Gauteng, forty eight (48) deaths occurred during arrest. The five metro police services accounted for 13 deaths as a result of police action.
Let me briefly touch on the places where the deaths occurred. Fifty three (53) per cent of the deaths took place at the scene, 29 per cent occurred at a hospital/clinic, 2 per cent in a police vehicle and 14 per cent took place in police holding cells.
I will now talk about allegations of criminal offences dealt with by the ICD. The ICD investigates allegations of criminal offences against members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) by the public.
Some complaints were reported by other SAPS members. Since the police are under no obligation to report such offences, these statistics are by no means a true reflection of the extent of police criminality. Under the new Independent Police Investigative Directorate, some of these offences will be notifiable which means that an accurate record will be kept and we will then be in a position to know their prevalence.
There were two thousand four hundred and ninety three (2 493) complaints alleging criminal conduct by members of the SAPS. Seventy per cent of these were related to what is termed police brutality, namely assault common, assault GBH and attempted murder. Allegations of torture accounted for 4 per cent of allegations of criminal offences, whereas rape cases accounted for 2 per cent.
When comparing the period under review to the preceding period, we have noted an increase of 5 per cent in assault (grievous bodily harm) GBH complaints and a 9 per cent increase in attempted murder complaints. Complaints of rape increased by 92 per cent, from 24 to 46 cases. Allegations of torture increased from five cases to forty one (41).
It is important to note that not all complaints made against police officers can be substantiated. Of those that are substantiated, five hundred and one (501) recommendations for prosecution were made to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Our investigators spent more than a thousand days in courts or disciplinary tribunals. We also made two thousand two hundred and sixty one (2 261) recommendations to SAPS management in respect of disciplinary action. In the process, we managed to obtain about ninety (90) convictions emanating from disciplinary processes and about sixty (60) convictions in the courts, with sentences ranging from fines to 20 year jail terms. Other cases are still pending finalization in the courts and disciplinary tribunals.
Clearly it’s been a busy year for the ICD and I want to thank the media as our partners in reporting some of the matters we have dealt with. I hope that this partnership continues into the future.
Thank you for your attention.
Address by the Executive Director, Mr Francois Beukman to the National Press Club on the tabling of the Independent Complaints Directorate Annual Report for 2010/11 and the release of its statistics
