AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit says it has submitted more than 20 formal service complaints against the police at certain provincial police commissioners, as well as the national police commissioner since April 2020.
The unit, headed by the former state prosecutor, Advocate Gerrie Nel, says the complaints result from the inability or unwillingness of police members to execute their duties.
The latest complaint was submitted on Monday to the National Police Commissioner in the case of 57-year-old Odette Kotze who was allegedly assaulted by the owners of a shop in a Port Elizabeth centre.
The incident took place during Level 5 of Lockdown.
Kotze was accused of stealing a box of matches and was allegedly tied up with rope and held against her will for two hours.
Nel says when police arrived, she was arrested and charged with assault and not theft.
He claims that police, in this case, did not obtain CCTV footage of the incident but also refused to give feedback to Kotze who has since laid a charge of assault against the shop owners.
Last week, Afriforum said their legal team would be assisting two people who were arrested during the lockdown to lay civil claims against the authorities.
This after both of them were acquitted in court.
Legal Manager for Afriforum Marnus Kamfer says the first person, who had a travelling permit, was arrested at a roadblock by SAPS after police found an old pair of kudu horns in his boot.
He says the second man was arrested because he had cigarettes in his possession.
Both men were arrested because they had allegedly violated lockdown regulations.
Kamfer says they decided to represent the accused as they believe the arrests were nothing but an abuse of power.
