Is South African Police Brutality A Case Of 'Same Old'?

The South African police have a history of using violent force against its own citizens. And while experts say this style of policing has been inherited from apartheid, it’s also true that not much has changed in their behaviour, 25 years after democracy, as the death of Tshegofatso Selahle last year at the hands of the police shows

- Lerato Mogoatlhe

November 2000 — shock waves reverberate through the nation of South Africa for days. An episode of the investigative TV show, Special Assignment, showed a video of six police officers setting police dogs on three men.

The dogs clung onto the men’s arms and legs or lunged at the groin and throats. They also dragged the men across a grassy field, as police officers screamed at them. Occasionally, the officers beat the men. The vicious nature of the attacks, the men’s palpable fear and the glee with which the officers reacted to the men’s agony, made headlines and talk shows as people asked: can we trust the police to respect our humanity and protect us from harm?

Fast forward to August 2019, and the family and friends of Tshegofatso Selahle, 35, asked if police can be trusted to not unleash violence on citizens.

Selahle was stopped by the police on the evening of 19 August. But what should have been a routine stop by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) ended in Selahle’s death? According to the JMPD, Selahle allegedly skipped a red robot on William Nicol and Sandton Drive and sped off when officers tried to stop him. Selahle, the police further alleged, was only stopped by the pavement he drove into.

When the police caught up with him, they found that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Selahle was arrested and afterward told the police that he could not breathe. At this point, it’s been reported, the police called for medical help. Selahle was declared dead by the medical team.

The police claimed that he became violent when they tried to arrest him. However, those who knew him well, said there was no violent bone in his body and he was known to be a peaceful and agreeable person. An autopsy found that he did not, as the police claimed, die of natural causes as his sister, Letsoba Selahle, revealed on the Xolani Gwala Show on Talk Radio 702.