IPID says forensic gaps, budget strain and non-compliant metros weaken police oversight

By Johnathan Paoli

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) acting national head of investigations, Thuso Keefelakae, told the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday that legal gaps, limited forensic capacity, and chronic resource constraints were undermining the watchdog’s ability to investigate police and municipal police officers.

Keefelakae said IPID can take over investigations to avoid conflicts of interest, citing cases such as domestic violence incidents involving police couples stationed at the same unit, where his team intervenes to prevent “interference”.

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But he said IPID lacks its own forensic experts and sufficient funding, forcing it to rely on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to collect certain crime-scene evidence and process it through police forensic laboratories.

“When it comes to the process that IPID follows with gathering evidence at a crime scene, we don’t have experts to collect certain evidence and we have