It’s over a year since judge Hans Fabricius ordered SA’s police and defence ministers to publish a code of conduct for their forces during a state of disaster. This came after Collins Khosa’s death at the hands of security forces in the early days of the lockdown.
But 15 months on, it’s not clear the police have taken to heart the pledge to prevent "action which may threaten the … security of any community"; "be guided by the needs of community"; "protect the fundamental rights of every person"; and act in a "responsible, controlled manner".
At least, that’s if recent reports of heavy-handed policing are any clue.
In scenes reminiscent of the early-lockdown jackboot approach, police have reportedly — without search warrants — broken into shacks in search of looted goods, carted off the rightful property of shack dwellers and assaulted community members. After one such confrontation, a woman was left dead after police allegedly opened fire with live rounds.
At the heart of these incidents is "operation show your receipt" — a strategy beloved of police minister Bheki Cele and taken up with alacrity by his minions.
It’s the playbook of a zealot, and irresponsible too, given how it invites officious overreach. As always, it’s the poor who feel it most acutely — it’s yet another layer atop the multiple indignities that attach to poverty in this country.