Having a cabinet member with an exclusive focus on the police has had at least four immediate adverse consequences, argues Lukas Muntingh. He asks if it is time for an evaluation of this role.
A decline in disciplinary actions does not mean that the police are more disciplined than before
That the Zondo Commission did not make recommendations for systemic reform of the National Prosecuting Authority is unfortunate and is a lost opportunity. The NPA is in need of reform and this centres on two issues: institutional independence and accountability.
There is ample domestic and international evidence suggesting that the longer a case is delayed, the less likely is a conviction, as memories fade, evidence is lost, people die, and the urgency of the matter fades, writes Jean Redpath.
Given the NPA's track record so far, a drastic departure from the current approach appears to be necessary when dealing with prosecuting those implicated in the Zondo report.
The NPA is perhaps one of the most unaccountable institutions of state. While the decision to prosecute is reviewed by a court, the decision not to prosecute is taken in secrecy and it is this decision, not to prosecute, that is perhaps even more important than the decision to prosecute.
It should not be necessary for civil society or political parties to take the National Prosecuting Authority’s decisions on review in court — an expensive, cumbersome and slow method of holding the institution to account and ensuring that corrective action is taken.
The NPA’s reputation has suffered much damage in the past 10 years. There is ample evidence that there exists more than the possibility of interference in its independence and operation, and that this has had adverse consequences for its perceived independence.
KwaZulu-Natal has long suffered from inadequate, corrupt and violent policing. Recent events have simply made it more obvious. The problem of policing in the province dates from before the transition to democracy. Policing is a national function - in South Africa is in crisis and in KwaZulu-Natal the crisis is magnified, writes Jean Redpath.
The severity of the punishment, if caught, is not a deterrent to committing crime. If consumers of alcohol can be fairly certain that if they get behind the steering wheel of a vehicle that they will be stopped and tested, they will be less likely to do so and make alternative arrangements or postpone their travel.
The number of prisoners writing matric is so frightfully small that we are left pondering how this is even possible 27 years into democracy. The fewer than 200 prisoners writing matric annually pales in comparison with the 111,000 sentenced prisoners in South Africa – less than half a percent.
How much discretion does a prosecutor have to decline to prosecute? Is mediation always a good thing? Is there sometimes an obligation to prosecute? Does compensation for the victim trump societal criminal justice interests? These are vexing questions, especially when attempting to answer them in the abstract. A recent case may help in crystallising some thoughts.
At the start of SA’s lockdown, prisoners were released in a bid to reduce transmission of Covid-19 in prisons. The emphasis was on sentenced persons via special parole. Yet our most crowded facilities are remand centres, holding those awaiting trial. In the Western Cape, since April, there has been a worrying increase in remand imprisonment. What is causing this rise?
Over 163,000 people are in correctional facilities in South Africa. Outbreaks of Covid-19 in these prisons can have catastrophic consequences for both prisoners and the public healthcare system.
The events of Ngcobo are portrayed as unusual, maybe because few realise that rural former Transkei has a very high murder rate. Yet the South African Police Service allocates relatively few police officials to such areas. Now that SAPS members are among the dead, perhaps SAPS will reconsider.
National Prosecuting Authority says there are more resolutions via the alternative dispute resolution mechanism
