Description

Lodge a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). If you lodge your complaint with the National Office, the matter will be referred to the relevant Provincial Office (depending on the area in which the incident occurred) for investigation.

Types of complaints that can be lodged with the IPID:

• Class II complaint: Is a complaint of non-compliance of SAPS in terms of Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998. (If a SAPS member failed to comply with the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act).
• Class III complaint: Is a complaint that alleges that a police officer(s) committed an offence that resulted in serious bodily injury requiring in-patient hospital treatment. Such misconduct or offence must have happened while a person was in police custody. The following is a list of Class III complaints:
  • abuse of power that has a significant community impact in terms of injuries caused; numbers of persons affected; amount of money involved; or period of time during which it occurs
  • arson
  • assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm or attempted murder
  • abduction
  • defeating the ends of justice
  • forgery or uttering a forged document knowing it to have been forged of a value of R50 000 or greater
  • fraud
  • indecent assault
  • perjury
  • public violence
  • intimidation
  • kidnapping
  • malicious damage to property
  • participation in a criminal syndicate
  • possession of stolen property
  • rape
  • receiving of stolen property
  • robbery
  • corruption
  • sodomy
  • theft
  • torture
  • extortion
  • incitement, conspiracy or attempt to commit any of the offences listed above.

• Class IV complaint: Is a complaint that alleges that a member committed an offence other than those listed above or misconduct that did not result in either death or serious bodily injury to anyone.
• Class V complaint: Is a complaint outside the scope of mandate or policy of the IPID.

Complaints that cannot be lodged with the IPID:

• Complaints of incidents which occurred before the establishment of IPID. This means all the incidents that took place before April 1997 and those which took place more than a year before they were reported to the IPID, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• Complaints against Correctional Services staff, court officials and members of the South African National Defence Force.

Steps to follow

• A complaint may be lodged in person, by telephone, per letter or email at the nearest IPID office. All complaints should be lodged during business hours, between 8h00 and 16h30.
• Complete a Complaint Reporting Form (Form 1) and fax it to your nearest IPID office.
• The IPID may ask you to provide additional information before a complaint can be investigated.
• If you come in person, you will consult with the Case worker/analyst.

Legal framework

(Documents are provided in PDF format. To open PDF documents, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on your computer.)

South African Police Act, 1995 (Act 68 of 1995)

Service standard

Complaints Processing:

• Acknowledgement of complainant within five minutes.
• Waiting period to be interviewed by Case Analyst may take 30 minutes. 
• Capturing the complaint on the Case Control System and assigning / transferring your case to a Case Worker within 48 hours.
• Written acknowledgement letter of receipt of complaint may take 30 days. 
• Progress Report may take 30 days.

Cost

This service is free.

Forms to complete

• Complaint Reporting Form: IPID form 1(CLASS III, IV)
• IPID Complaints Form – IPID form 1

Contact details