South Africa's High Court orders state to ensure police and soldiers act within the law under Disaster Management Act regulations

On 10 April 2020, Mr Collins Khosa was brutalised, tortured and murdered in his own home by security forces deployed to enforce South Africa's Disaster Management Act ("lockdown") regulations. The family of Mr Khosa brought an application to court to attempt to ensure such brutality does not happen again. The court ordered the Minister and various agencies of state to take a range of preventative measures. The state was ordered to pay costs.

The court pointed to the various utterances of the responsible Ministers which encouraged unlawful behaviour of police and soldiers. 

In addition the court found that "there is no existing mechanism capable of conducting prompt, impartial and effective investigations of lockdown brutality and that I have the power and the duty to order the Defence Minister and the Minister of Police to establish one urgently."

The full judgment is available here

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