Abstract:
In 2013, South Africa had the second highest rate of imprisonment in Africa. During the apartheid
era, a substantial number of deaths in custody involved political detainees. However, two decades
after the abolition of apartheid there continues to be a high number of deaths in custody and deaths
due to police action.
There is no internationally standardised classification for deaths which take place in custody and/or
due to police action. For purposes of this study, we divided these cases broadly into two categories:
firstly, deaths which took place as a result of police action as well as deaths of persons held in police
custody, and secondly, deaths of inmates of correctional service facilities. We conducted a
retrospective descriptive case audit at the Pretoria Medico-Legal Laboratory (PMLL) of all cases
admitted as deaths as a result of police action, deaths in police custody and deaths in correctional
service facilities during the five year period from January 2007 through December 2011. A total of 93
cases were identified, which included 48 deaths due to police action, 28 deaths in police custody
and 17 deaths in correctional service custody. The majority of these deaths were due to gunshot wounds (n=48) – all due to police action. Hangings accounted for 17 cases, and the majority of
these occurred in police holding cells. This study highlights the relatively large numbers of firearm
fatalities related to police action. In contrast to similar studies elsewhere, we identified no deaths
associated with illicit drug intoxication or due to phenomena such as excited delirium. We argue
that there is a need for objective, impartial and competent medico-legal investigation into deaths of
this nature.
