In June 2021, the ISS and the African Police Oversight Forum, the C-19 People’s Coalition, Corruption Watch, the Legal Resources Centre, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute, Asiye eTafuleni (AeT) and other organisations launched the Police Accountability Campaign. The organisations developed a Police Accountability Factsheet which aims to help the public to understand police powers, their rights when they encounter the police, and options for reporting police misconduct and abuse.
Phase one of the campaign included gathering content from partners to develop the Police Accountability Factsheet, and disseminate it. AeT was more involved in the Phase two of the campaign which involved the advocacy on police accountability within the informal sector and informal settlements. This was followed by the workshop engagements where partner organisations shared their constituents’ experiences when engaging the police, how they provided assistance, lessons learnt, and organisational needs, in order to establish or strengthen mechanisms for holding police accountable. This was an extension of the Vikelani Amalungelo programme developed by AeT, which seeks to educate and strengthen Know Your Rights mechanisms or programmes for informal traders or shack dwellers. The main aim of this initiative is as follows;
- To promote awareness of the importance of police accountability with organisations focused on various human rights advocacy projects
- To disseminate the Police Accountability Factsheet .
- To provide a platform for new partner organisations to discuss their ongoing activities and any difficulties they are facing; and provide an opportunity for information sharing in plenary discussions.
- To build networks and connect organisations working on police accountability/with constituents who face abuse by the police enforcement authorities.
The Police Accountability Factsheet, developed in partnership with civil society, is available in six local languages which can be downloaded below:
