Police Brutality In South Africa Essay

The reality of police brutality in the beautiful and heartwarming county of South Africa is more real than imagined, even in the post apartheid regime, thanks to the selfless sacrifices and endeavors of the great reformist and leader, Nelson Mandela and other notable freedom fighters, the dominance of white regime has indeed come to an eventful end. But police brutality has not ended, on the contrary it has grown to be a major force to reckon with. Though the apartheid ended several decades ago, it still has a major affect on how police do their work in the South African Police Services (SAPS) resulting in further corruption and police brutality. As a result of this, police reform has been a very slow process in South Africa.

The law gives the police the authority to use force when necessary in order to perform their role of implementing the law. In the contemporary world, the superiors of the police force, the government, as well as the public expect the police to use necessary force in the course of their work. However, while constantly working in a disorderly community, Norma Romm asserts that some of the police officers tend to develop a negative attitude towards the subjects despite the fact that it is their role to protect the members of the society (156). By developing this attitude, such members of the police force will tend to attain the notion that they have power over the society. To some extent, such police officers believe that they are above the law.

In post-apartheid South Africa, a high proportion of police officers have developed this attitude. This is highly due to the fact that the policies of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are based on the traditional reaction-based models (Raphaely 6). Post-apart...

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...e security needs of the nation. This will convert SAPS into an institution that has integrity and is accountable for its actions.

While the main objective of the police force is to protect civilians, the increased acts of brutality by the force have made the society in South Africa to have a negative attitude towards the SAPS. And rightly so, due to the fact that police officers tend to misuse the power and privileges that have been vested to them by the constitution since the end of the apartheid. The levels of corruption between SAPS and its affiliate institutions is still very high. Though there are laws that are set within the SAPS at the end of the apartheid, there needs to be more regulations to enforce these polices within the members. This in turn will convert South Africa to be a state where law and order prevail and police brutality isn’t a growing issue.