In line with the Collins Khosa judgment handed down by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has added extra capacity its National Service Complaints Centre to enable the public to report allegations of wrongdoing by police officers during the lockdown.
One of the court's directives included the establishment of a freely accessible mechanism for civilians to report allegations of torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, committed by members of the SANDF, police and metro police during the national state of disaster.
In a statement on Tuesday, SAPS said it had added capacity to its National Service Complaints Centre to enable the public to report allegations of police misconduct.
"Complaints can vary from torture and/or cruel, inhumane and/or degrading treatment and/or punishment, committed by law enforcement members, including poor service delivery regarding police response, investigations, police negligence and police misconduct," the statement read.
"The public may, for the duration of the state of disaster, report complaints regarding the SAPS at the nearest police station, the National Service Complaints Centre on the toll-free number 0800 333 177 or on the following email addresses, or to the statement, when members of the public report a complaint, the respective complainant will be required to provide detailed information, such as full name and surname, identity number, residential/business address, telephone and cellphone numbers and an email address.
