According to Skynews, One of South Africa's leading anti-apartheid stalwarts has lambasted his country's police force after a string of accusations about their brutal methods - including torture.
Ronnie Kasrils, who served in the first democratically elected South African Government, told Sky News: "This is not what we fought for. The Nelson Mandela I know would have been outraged at the police brutality."
The criticism from one of the leading lights of the anti-apartheid era will be keenly felt at a time when the country is still immersed in the inquiry into what went wrong at Marikana last August, when 34 striking miners were shot dead by police.
The police insist that more video monitoring by civilians has given the impression that police brutality is increasing while official statistics actually show a slight decrease.
Victims of police brutality who we interviewed simply do not believe the statistics.
Instead, they spoke about police methods which routinely involved having plastic bags put over their head, being beaten, kicked and hit with sjamboks (heavy whips usually made with animal hide).
One man, whose identity we are withholding after a request from his lawyer, is suing the Minister of Police after he says he was tortured by officers who extracted a false confession from him. He was then jailed without bail for more than two years as his case went to trial.
Another victim, a young Muslim woman this time, has mobile phone video which shows a police officer pinning her down on the ground outside her house and attempting to strangle her.
Naazneen Kadir said the two officers were called to her house in southern Johannesburg by neighbours who had complained she was making too much noise. She said she was dragged out of her house in her pyjamas without warning, and then brutally assaulted. Her mother can be seen on the video screaming and trying to pull the officers off her.
Ms Kadir has since been charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. She has counter-charged accusing them of assaulting her. She wept as she showed us the video.
"I just can't believe that police can do that. If you can't trust the police in your own home, who can you trust?" she said.
But a spokesman for the South African Police Service (SAPS) brushed the accusations aside, saying it was down to just "a few bad apples".
Brigadier Neville Malila said the feedback SAPS was getting was mostly positive and people were generally very appreciative of their efforts.
"They are getting the accolades," he told Sky News.
Under apartheid, the police were notorious for torturing and abusing prisoners - many of them political detainees. But those we spoke to told us the 'new' South Africa was horribly similar to the old - with police routinely brutalising civilians with a sense of impunity.
Mr Kasrils insisted a lack of action by the ANC Government was partly to blame.
"This is systemic in the police force and someone has to take responsibility for it," he said.
Ronnie Kasrils, who served in the first democratically elected South African Government, told Sky News: "This is not what we fought for. The Nelson Mandela I know would have been outraged at the police brutality."
The criticism from one of the leading lights of the anti-apartheid era will be keenly felt at a time when the country is still immersed in the inquiry into what went wrong at Marikana last August, when 34 striking miners were shot dead by police.
The police insist that more video monitoring by civilians has given the impression that police brutality is increasing while official statistics actually show a slight decrease.
Victims of police brutality who we interviewed simply do not believe the statistics.
Instead, they spoke about police methods which routinely involved having plastic bags put over their head, being beaten, kicked and hit with sjamboks (heavy whips usually made with animal hide).
One man, whose identity we are withholding after a request from his lawyer, is suing the Minister of Police after he says he was tortured by officers who extracted a false confession from him. He was then jailed without bail for more than two years as his case went to trial.
Another victim, a young Muslim woman this time, has mobile phone video which shows a police officer pinning her down on the ground outside her house and attempting to strangle her.
Naazneen Kadir said the two officers were called to her house in southern Johannesburg by neighbours who had complained she was making too much noise. She said she was dragged out of her house in her pyjamas without warning, and then brutally assaulted. Her mother can be seen on the video screaming and trying to pull the officers off her.
Ms Kadir has since been charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. She has counter-charged accusing them of assaulting her. She wept as she showed us the video.
"I just can't believe that police can do that. If you can't trust the police in your own home, who can you trust?" she said.
But a spokesman for the South African Police Service (SAPS) brushed the accusations aside, saying it was down to just "a few bad apples".
Brigadier Neville Malila said the feedback SAPS was getting was mostly positive and people were generally very appreciative of their efforts.
"They are getting the accolades," he told Sky News.
Under apartheid, the police were notorious for torturing and abusing prisoners - many of them political detainees. But those we spoke to told us the 'new' South Africa was horribly similar to the old - with police routinely brutalising civilians with a sense of impunity.
Mr Kasrils insisted a lack of action by the ANC Government was partly to blame.
"This is systemic in the police force and someone has to take responsibility for it," he said.
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