IS SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE BRUTALITY A CASE OF “SAME OLD”?
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
