PHOTO: Marco Longari/AFP
The trauma of both the Covid-19 illness and death, and the securitisation and militarisation of this public health emergency, will for years be marked on bodies and communities, writes
Edwin Cameron.
Soon a sombre anniversary will fall on our country.
This week, it s a year since 11 March 2020, when the World Health Organisation first declared Covid-19 a pandemic.
On 15 March 2020, President Ramaphosa declared Covid a national disaster.
A couple days after our national Human Rights Day, on 23 March, he announced a nation-wide lockdown - among the strictest anywhere. The President s words were important - for they set the tone for what followed.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is investigating 49 cases of alleged police heavy handedness against citizens during the first two months of the hard lockdown.
Thapelo Lekabe The Presidency on Friday confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa received a request from the police minister to institute the inquiry. National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole. Picture: Zukiswa Minyi / African News Agency (ANA)
Acting presidential spokesperson Tyrone Seale on Friday confirmed President Cyril Ramaphosa had received such a request from the minister, saying he is looking into the matter.
“He [Cele] has sent the request and the president is applying his mind,” Seale told
The Citizen.
However, he could not confirm when Ramaphosa received the request from Cele or how long he would take to decide.
“I don’t think one is able to put a time to that but the president has to ensure he has sufficient information on the matter before he takes a decision.”
Police brutality alleged in shocking SAHRC report
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Cape Town - Women being strip-searched by male officers, murders in police custody and minors being detained and assaulted in holding cells with adults.
These were among the shocking incidents recently detailed in a report presented by the South African Human Rights Commission to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police.
The committee on Thursday expressed its shock and concern at what the report detailed regarding a number of cases of police brutality and gender-based violence crimes against suspects while in custody.
The incidents, which had been reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), include rape victims being arrested after their alleged rapist lodged a counter-complaint of arson, and a huge backlog of over 170 000 cases waiting for DNA processing for gender-based violence crimes.