Description

You may lodge a complaint or notify the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) of deaths in police custody, as a result of police action, torture or racial discrimination. This is commonly referred to as a Class I complaint. 

Steps to follow

• Report deaths in police custody by telephone or in writing to the nearest IPID office.
• Complete Complaint Reporting Form and fax it to your nearest IPID office.
• Provide the IPID with the following information:
  • name and contact details of the victim and/or complainant
  • name and rank of the suspect police officer
  • name of the police station or municipality where the suspect police officer is based
  • police case number, if any
  • date, time and nature of failure to assist the victim
  • particulars of witnesses, if any.

• The IPID will investigate the case by attending scene of crime and obtaining statements from the witness
• The IPID will send a report with recommendation to Director of Public Prosecution and a copy of the South African Police Service Report to the client.
• Prosecution.
• The IPID will send a court appearance SAPS Departmental Action Report to the client.
• The IPID will send a Conviction/acquittal Sanction/acquittal Report to the client.

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 Service Act, 1995 (Act 68 of 1995)

Service standard

• The investigations may take 30 days or more depending on the seriousness of the case.
• Production of final preliminary reports may take 180 days.
• All reports captured on the database may take 48 hours.
• Production final recommendation reports may take 14 days of receipt of technical reports.

Cost

This service is free.

Forms to complete

Complaint Reporting Form

Contact details