Ms Annie Kok

In recent years, there has been much debate over the state of police and policing in South Africa. The reports of both the Marikana Commission and the Khayelitsha Commission have exposed serious shortcomings relating to the structure, organisation, and operational practices of the police in democratic South Africa. Public Inquiries into police and policing are not new; on the contrary, Public Inquiries have a long history in South Africa. This dissertation explores Public Inquiries as tools for investigation and as mechanisms of police oversight and accountability in a wider historical background. Through archival research, a wide-range of inquiries into many aspects of police and policing in South Africa during the period 1910 to 2015 were uncovered. Recurring themes in these inquiries are discussed in the historical context of the South African police and the broader framework of Public Inquiries.