Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into Policing

In 2014, Judge Kate O'Regan and Advocate Vusi Pikoli chaired a commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha. GroundUp covered the inquiry in depth. Here are our reports as well as contributed opinion pieces from the inquiry.

“In a matter of seconds a man is dead “¦ for snatching a handbag”

“We don’t need to focus on fighting crime ... we need to heal our communities,” testified Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela at the Khayelitsha Inquiry into policing this morning. Her testimony described the social and psychological trauma of the Khayelitsha community, and how that results in vigilante killings.

Adam Armstrong

News | 16 May 2014

Arrests not enough to end police corruption says expert witness

This morning the Khayelitsha Inquiry into policing heard testimony from Dr Liza Grobler about corruption in SAPS.

Adam Armstrong

News | 14 May 2014

Frayed tempers at Khayelitsha Inquiry as O’Regan and Arendse spar

Phase 2 of the Inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha is underway under tight time constraints.

Adam Armstrong

News | 13 May 2014

Expert witness: SAPS must be held accountable for how they spend their budget

Police oversight should be extended to include how SAPS spends their budget. This was the testimony of Sean Tait, coordinator of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry this morning.

Adam Armstrong

News | 13 May 2014

O’Regan compares distribution of police resources to apartheid

Jean Redpath, a criminologist at the University of Western Cape, was the first person to testify in the second phase of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry, which started at Lookout Hill this morning. Redpath argued that the formula used to calculate police resource allocation is irrational.

Adam Armstrong

News | 12 May 2014

Khayelitsha cops: “We are the whipping boys”

While the Marikana hearings drift through the doldrums in Rustenberg, at Khayelitsha’s Lookout Hill another commission into police failings is cautiously gathering momentum. The O’Regan-Pikoli Commission of Inquiry is a timely and consolatory reminder of the judicial efficiency South Africa is capable of.

Richard Conyngham

Opinion | 22 April 2014

SJC “delighted” at progress of Khayelitsha Commission

The Social Justice Coalition is “delighted” at the progress of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into policing, said the coalition’s Joel Bregman.

Adam Armstrong

News | 16 April 2014

Call to make secret police document public

SAPS provincial commissioner General Arno Lamoer is to recommend to the National Commissioner that the police resource allocation guide, which outlines the resources available at each police station, be made available to the public.

Adam Armstrong

News | 2 April 2014

Khayelitsha Commission told by SAPS Major General convicted criminals come out of prison gangsters

On 28 March, Major General Peter Jacobs, the Provincial Head of Crime Intelligence, gave evidence at the Khayelitsha Commission about visible policing.

Adam Armstrong

News | 28 March 2014