8 July 2026
On 7 November 2023, police officers brutally assaulted Juma Igiranieza. They punched him repeatedly, hit him with a baseball bat, suffocated him with a plastic bag, and kicked him. He wasn’t suspected of a crime. The cops simply wanted information from him — information he didn’t have.
It was a textbook definition of torture: physically or emotionally harming someone in order to extract information from them.
Unbeknownst to the police, the entire assault was caught on video.
Three of the police officers involved were Colonel Delmore Manuel, Constable Jermaine Conradie and Constable Leigh-Ann Maroon.
More than two years later, the criminal case against three of the cops, Manuel, Conradie and Marron, has been repeatedly postponed. Even though more officers can be seen in the video, none of them have been charged.
The officers involved remain on active duty. Only some of those involved have faced disciplinary action, and they received slaps on the wrist.
Igiranieza has begun civil action against the Minister of Justice.
GroundUp has been covering this story from the outset. Today, we publish a video describing how police tortured Igiranieza, were caught red-handed, and yet have faced no serious consequences.
Police acted brutally with impunity during the apartheid era. That impunity was supposed to be removed in democratic South Africa. But today’s video contributes to a large body of evidence showing how the police continue to get away with brutality.
How in these circumstances can we expect people to have confidence in, or respect for, the police?
Colonel Delmore Manuel. Photo: David Harrison
Constable Leigh-Ann Maroon. Photo: David Harrison
Constable Jermaine Conradie (right). Photo supplied
This is an 11-minute CCTV video showing multiple police officers assaulting Juma Igiraneza. Warning: the video depicts violence, and most people will find the footage distressing.
