DA calls on IPID to investigate possible police involvement in Charl Kinnear murder

27 September 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to probe possible police involvement in the murder of Charl Kinnear. This is in light of reports that Kinnear was on the brink of cracking a “guns-to-gangs” syndicate at the police Central Firearms Registry (CFR).

If these reports are to be believed, Kinnear would have possibly exposed large scale corruption within the CFR ranks. The DA believes that IPID has an important role to play in exposing the rot in the South African Police Services (SAPS) which may have led to Kinnear’s horrendous murder. IPID simply cannot cross its arms and allow the people who potentially plotted this vile act to continue to work within the SAPS.

If we fail to protect policemen and women who are exposing corruption within SAPS, the fight against crime in this country will never succeed. The rot within the police is one of the biggest threats to our national security and rogue police officials should be exposed and put behind bars.

Honest police officials, such as Kinnear, who seek to expose corruption must be protected so that those with nefarious aims and with ties to the criminal underworld can be flushed out of the system.

For many years SAPS has been engulfed by various scandals involving misconduct, human rights violations, sexual violence and corruption. All of which has resulted in public outcries and general lack of trust towards the police.

IPID has a duty to exercise its oversight of SAPS to ensure that it restores its integrity and regains public confidence. This cannot happen while SAPS remains infested with people who are allegedly working in aid of criminals.

Issued by Andrew Whitfield, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 27 September 2020