APCOF was established in 2004 as a coalition of police oversight bodies and practitioners and was registered in 2006 as a not-for-profit company under South African Company Law. In 2012 APCOF was reregistered as a Trust. APCOF is in a unique position in the policing and police oversight field. Trustees and Advisory Board members form a network of expertise bringing together leading practitioners to promote a continental agenda and facilitate shared learning and experiences.

History and Achievements

APCOF’s recent achievements include:

  • 2023: Technical support to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in the development and adoption of Guidelines on Adhering to Human and Peoples’ rights under the African Charter in the Contexts of Emergency or Disaster.
  • 2020: Publication of Simplified Principles for the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa.
  • 2019: Technical support to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) on the development and adoption of the Model Police Law for Africa in October 2019.
  • 2019: Technical support to the East African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) on the development and adoption of monitoring indicators and measures for the Common Standards of Policing in the East African Community (EAC).
  • 2019: Technical support to EAPCCO on the development and adoption of a Model Operation Procedures for Interviews of Suspects and Persons of Interest.
  • 2019: Technical support to the Malawi Police Services in the review and adoption of the Standing Orders on Policing Assemblies and Use of Force.
  • 2018: Technical support to SADC in the approval of the Guideline on Crime and Violence Prevention.
  • 2017: Technical support to and the adoption by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights of Principles for the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa.
  • 2017: Development and production of toolkit on implementation of Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Official in Africa for the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR).
  • 2016: Technical support to and the adoption by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights of Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Official in Africa.
  • 2016: Technical support to and the Adoption by the East African Police Commissioners Cooperation Organisation (EAPPCCO) of a regional Standard Operating Procedure on Public Order Policing.
  • 2016: Production of toolkit on implementation of Guidelines on Arrest, Conditions of Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention, The Luanda Guidelines for the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR).
  • 2015: Successful advocacy to expand the mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention to include Policing.
  • 2015: Co publication of a bi-annual newsletter on Policing and Human Rights in Africa.
  • 2015: Provision of technical support to operationalization of the Sierra Leone Independent Police Complaints Board.
  • 2015: Publication and Launch of Police and Human Rights Training Manual for the East Africa Community (EAC) and the East Africa Police Commissioners Cooperation Committee (EAPCCO).
  • 2014: The adoption of Guidelines on Arrest, Conditions of Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention, The Luanda Guidelines by the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR).
  • 2013: Establishing a Police and Human Rights Focal point at the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR).
  • 2013: Development and presentation of an annual advanced human rights course for the Centre of Human Rights at the University of Pretoria.
  • 2013: Development seminar for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum on police oversight and the role of parliamentarians.
  • 2012: Acceptance by the East African Community (EAC) of police Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) in the EAC on: Arrest and Detention, Stop and Search, Use of Force, and Public Order Management.
  • 2011: Development of training material on investigator skills for independent police oversight mechanisms and provision of training support to various entities including the Kenyan Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) and South African Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
  • 2010: Development of monitoring indicators for the Southern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization Code of Conduct for Police Officials and an assessment of the application of the Police Code of Conduct in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
  • 2009: Approval by EAC Ministers of Security, and East African Police Chiefs Cooperation (EAPCCO) of Common Standards for Policing in East African Community.
  • 2008: A continental audit of police oversight in Africa.
  • 2006: The adoption of a resolution at the ACHPR on the importance of external police oversight in the promotion and protection of human rights.
Governance

The trustees who are responsible are responsible for the administrative, financial and content integrity of the organization are supported by an Advisory board responsible for strategic direction.

The trustee board members are:

Mr Greg Cronje
Greg Cronje is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a BCompt Accounting Honours degree. He has over 20 years’ experience servicing clients in the non-profit sector. He is a former committee member of the Western Cape Regional Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors and has served on the Audit Committee of the South African Heritage Resource Agency. Until recently Greg was an audit partner at a leading national audit and accounting firm. He is currently a member of the audit and risk committee of the South African Board for Sheriffs, Furntech and also serves on the boards of a number of other charitable trusts.

Ms Annelize van Wyk (Chairperson)

Annelize van Wyk is an independent consultant in security sector reform and is the former chair of the South African National Assembly portfolio committee on police.

Ms Tapiwa Gandidze 

Tapiwa Gandidze received a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) cum laude from the University of Fort Hare in 2001 and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Trade Law from the University of Stellenbosch in 2002.
She is a Director at Norton Rose. She was previously a director of the Cape Town office of Cheadle, Thompson and Haysom, and a lecturer at the University of the Western Cape.

Adv Pansy Tlakula

Adv Pansy Tlakula is the Chairperson of the Information Regulator and a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD). She holds a B. Proc degree from the University of the North( now University of Limpopo), an LL.B degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and an LL.M degree from Harvard University. In 2006 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Legal Studies by the Vaal University of Technology. She is a former Chairperson and Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Chairperson of the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights (ACPHR) and its Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa.

Prof Elrena van der Spuy

Emeritus professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Cape Town (UCT). She previously served as deputy dean of the Department of Public Law and past director of the Centre for Criminology at UCT.

Dr Sandy Africa
Sandy Africa is an Associate Professor in Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria (UP),  lecturing in public policy and international relations.  She currently serves as UP’s Deputy Dean for Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Humanities.  Prior to this,  she worked in top management roles in the South African security sector,  followed by extensive capacity-building, policy research and technical support to various national, sub-regional and regional initiatives aimed at strengthening democratic control and oversight of the security services, particularly on the African continent.  Her research is centred on peacebuilding,  security sector reform and governance, and access to information to security information. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, located in South Africa.

 

The advisory board members are:

  • Florence Simbiri-Jaoko, Former Chairperson, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Kenya.
  • Prof Etannibi Alemika, Chair of Criminology, Department of Sociology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
  • Edith Kibalama, Executive Director, East Africa Centre for Constitutional Development, Uganda.
  • Ababacar Ndiaye, Project Officer, Senegalese Commission on Human Rights, Senegal.
  • Amir Suliman, Director, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, Uganda.
  • Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Rights Council of Morocco. Former President, Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights and vice president of FIDH.
  • Ms Ann Makori, Chair Kenyan Independent Police Complaints Authority.
  • George Monyoncho, Former Vice Chair Kenya National Commission for Human Rights member of Board of Trustees, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders , Kenya.
  • Advocate Rommy Mom, Nigeria Police Service Commission.
  • Ms Kemi Okewnyodo, Executive Director Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative Nigeria , Former Executive Director Cleen Foundation Nigeria.
  • Mr Val Collier, Past Chair Sierra Leone Independent Police Complaints Board.
Organisation Strategy

APCOF has developed a theory of change to promote police accountability through the achievement of three interrelated immediate outcomes.

These “intermediate outcomes” which are the focus of APCOF’s work are: increased political support for police accountability; improved capacity for oversight; and the development of a community of practitioners promoting accountability.

Democratic governance and the rule of law are the outcome of inherently political processes, and so too is the enterprise of promoting accountable policing. APCOF’s “theory of change” recognizes that policing in Africa will not become more amenable to accountability without the explicit support and promotion of those who have political power. Decision makers need to accept police accountability as not only a normative requirement of the broader policing reform project, but an essential component to police effectiveness and efficiency. APCOF acknowledges in its approach that the work of police accountability cannot be limited to the more comfortable realm of training, capacity building, and technical support but that efforts have to extend to influence the various spaces in which political power is held and exercised. This may include state and non-state spaces, as well as national, regional and continental contexts. Critically, the notion of political support must also extend to police agencies themselves whose support and cooperation has been highlighted as a central element to ensuring effective oversight of the police.

Further, it is clear that many of the actors involved in police accountability work may experience capacity constraints that may limit their ability to contribute effectively to accountability efforts. Capacity constraints range from limitations in information, to the absence of tools for assessment, to weaknesses in technical capacity and skills.

This aspect of APCOF’s work utilizes the general framework offered by Stone and Ward, and addresses its capacity-building efforts to all three levels identified state civilian oversight, internal police controls and civil society.

There is no question for APCOF that a strong group of individuals with passion for and commitment to police accountability is central to promoting stronger accountability and oversight on the continent. Knowledgeable state and non-state actors equipped with the capacity and tools to promote increased accountability, particularly at national and more local levels, can contribute to this agenda in the following ways:

  • Undertake ongoing research and gather evidence as to the status and nature of police accountability in countries and regions.
  • Advocacy activities intended to influence national and regional political processes.
  • Exposing abuse, actively supporting investigations and enquiries, and disseminating the results.

APCOF’s operational model is also centered on networking. APCOF operates with a small staff  and seeks to undertake its operations utilizing a range of relationships and partnerships across the continent. This approach allows for APCOF to benefit from local knowledge and expertise, as well as to contribute to local capacity building, where this is relevant. This model allows for organizational overheads to remain low at the center, and for greater investment in resources in the development of activities.

Staff

Sean Tait – Director
Sean Tait is the founder and Director of APCOF. He holds an Honours degree in Criminology from the University of Cape Town. He is the former Director of the Criminal Justice Initiative at the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, and the former Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation UMAC. His areas of expertise include policing, police accountability, crime prevention, and peace building.

Louise Edwards – Programmes and Research Director
Louise Edwards (B.A. (Arabic), L.L.B, L.L.M (International Law)) has spent the past 10 years working on police accountability across Africa. Her focus has included the provision of technical legal assistance to organs of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and national stakeholders in the drafting and implementation of regional legal standards for rights-based policing. This includes leading the drafting of the Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa (ACHPR, 2014), the Guidelines on the Policing of Assemblies in Africa (ACHPR, 2017), and the Common Standards for Policing in East Africa (EAC/EAPCCO, 2010). Prior to this, Louise was a lawyer in private practice (Allens) and in the community legal sector.

Helene van der Watt – Office Manager
Helene holds a project management certificate from the University of Cape Town and has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of administration, grants and programme management. Prior to joining APCOF she worked as a Programme and Grants Administrator for the Open Society Foundation of South Africa.

Abdirahman Maalim Gossar – Project and Research Officer
Abdirahman holds a Master of Laws degree from Stellenbosch University. His focus is largely International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law and his thesis addressed the question of terrorism and counter terrorism in Africa.

Dr Tarryn Bannister – Project and Research Officer

In 2010, Tarryn graduated with her LLB degree from Stellenbosch University. Following this, she completed a research Masters, on the right to have access to health care services for survivors of gender-based violence, cum laude, through Stellenbosch University. In 2016 she completed her doctorate in law, titled “The implications of a relational feminist interpretation of the socio-economic rights of female cohabitants”. During her postgraduate studies she lectured at Stellenbosch University. Tarryn has significant experience in legal compliance, legal practice, human rights and higher education.

Donors
  • Afro-Asia Association for Justice Development
  • Danish Institute for Human Rights
  • European Union
  • GIZ
  • Government of Sweden
  • Open Society Foundations Institute
  • Raoul Wallenberg Institute
  • ROLE UK
  • Sigrid Rausing Trust
  • High Commission of Canada in South Africa