Allegations of brutality by police and soldiers during the lockdown have spurred calls for greater efforts to hold the government to account.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) confirmed it was investigating allegations that a Cape Town man died after being tasered by police. The man was reportedly on his way to buy beer.

IPID spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said a case docket had been opened for further investigation.

An Ekhurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officer and a man believed to be a security guard were arrested for the fatal shooting of a man in Vosloorus at his home during lockdown on Sunday.

News24 reported that the Military Ombudsman Office had received complaints about the conduct of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members for seemingly using a heavy-handed approach in enforcing the lockdown.

The office had also received a request from the Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Kobus Marais to investigate what he called ‘a gross violation of the military’s mandate, and the the Bill of Rights’.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula condemned abuses, and appealed to soldiers to ‘desist from using excessive force against citizens … regardless of the level of provocation they may face while deployed’. The armed forces were told to ‘deal with members who use excessive or unnecessary force’.

DA parliamentary leader John Steenhuisen said he had written to National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise urging the establishment of an ad hoc committee to ‘ensure continued oversight of the national executive authority and organs of state’.

The proposal was ‘to ensure that civil liberties are protected at all times during the lockdown’.

While DA had ‘pledged its full support to President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet’, allegations of brutality by police officers and soldiers were ‘absolutely unacceptable, and deeply worrying’.

Holding the government to account during the outbreak was essential.

In a television address last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a mass screening project involving 10 000 staff. His announcement came as positive cases in South Africa rose from 1 280 to 1 326. 

In other virus-related news

  • Based on official sources, AFP calculated that the pandemic has killed more than 25 000 people in Europe. With a total of 25 037 deaths out of 399 381 officially declared cases, Europe is now the continent with the highest toll from Covid-19. Italy has 10 779 deaths and Spain 7 340, making them the two most affected countries globally with more than three-quarters of the deaths in Europe;
  • The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned the coronavirus outbreak threatened to disproportionately devastate the economies of already impoverished countries as they geared up to tackle a health crisis with extremely limited resources. The socioeconomic impact on poor and developing countries would take years to recover from, UNDP said, stressing that income losses in poorer countries were forecast to exceed $220bn. Nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost, it also warned;
  • Thieves exploited the coronavirus crisis to steal the Vincent van Gogh painting ‘Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring’ from Holland’s Singer Laren Museum, closed because of the pandemic; and  
  • The International Olympic Committee announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021.

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