'Africa Investigates' third season kicks off with 'Echoes of Apartheid'

20 November 2015 - 12:34 By Times Live
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Image: SUPPLIED

The third season of Al Jazeera’s award-winning Africa Investigates' documentary series showcases 'Echoes of Apartheid', the result of a five-year investigation by Sunday Times journalists Mzilikazi Wa Afrika and Stephan Hofstatter into how police brutality has spiraled out of control in South Africa.

Almost all categories of police brutality are increasing in South Africa: According to the latest official statistics, in the past year police assaulted 3,711 people, tortured 145, and killed 423 people, with 244 others dying in custody.

Torture is up 86%, while civil claims against the police for misconduct totalled R9.5 billion in the past year. The hardest hit provinces are Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Echoes of Apartheid investigates a string of suspect killings allegedly committed by the Cato Manor organised crime unit in Durban, under the ultimate command of provincial Hawks head Major General Johan Booysen.

Wa Afrika and Hofstatter’s investigation has established that four squad members close to Booysen – Willie Olivier, Anton Lockem, Eugene van Tonder, and Paul Mostert – are linked to dozens of suspicious killings stretching back more than a decade.

All have been indicted for murder.

  • Echoes of Apartheid repeats on Al Jazeera English on 20 November at 04:30, 21 November at 17:30, and 22 November at 06:30 CAT.

Click here for more information.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now