“The Police Portfolio commitee’s approval of the unconstitutional Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill as it stands, will give Bheki Cele full control over IPID’s activities. He will have the power to appoint and remove the executive director of IPID from office, and with that, will change IPID from independent watchdog, to a bouncer for his growing Police Mafia,” says Ian Cameron, Director for Community Safety at Action Society. “Moreover, president Cyril Rampahosa’s failure to implement critical performance evaluation measures for ministers, as promised in 2019, means that there are currently no way to police the police.”
In July 2022, Action Society lodged a PAIA application to request access to the performance agreements signed by all the ministers, their evaluation reports and other related records or information since President Cyril Ramaphosa put the policy into place in October 2020. In its response, the Office of the Presidency replied that the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation “indicated that there is no evaluation report as yet on the assessment of Ministers”.
Without an independent and constitutional IPID, police misconduct and criminal activities will go unchecked and unpunished. “The only way forward is a change in the Constitution to provide for IPID’s status as a Chapter 9 institution and to expressly guarantee its independence and protection from political interference.”
Action Society launched a campaign to change the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) into a truly independent Chapter 9 institution, like the Public Protector. “Through our suggested amendments, we will ensure that IPID can effectively investigate and address misconduct and criminal activity by police officers and protect the public from any potential abuses of power.”
The following steps are needed to get IPID fully independent:
1. The planned implementation of Unconstitutional legislation governing IPID’s operations, must be stopped
2. The Constitution must be amended to provide for IPID’s status as a Chapter 9 institution and to expressly guarantee its independence and protection from arbitrary removal from office.
Action Society calls on concerned citizens to support the campaign here.
