In October, AfriForum wrote to police bosses asking why no police officers had been held to account in connection with events leading to the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear. Now the police watchdog says the 'inaction' will be dealt with legally.

Listen to this article 7 min Listen to this article 7 min The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) says it will follow legal processes to deal with "the inaction of the National Commissioner" over issues relating to the September 2020 assassination of Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear.

This is contained in a 5 July letter from Ipid's executive director, Jennifer Dikeledi Ntlatseng, to Advocate Gerrie Nel, who heads AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit.

Based on the dates in the letter, the National Commissioner referred to appears to be Fannie Masemola.

The letter outlines the police watchdog's stance on the Kinnear situation, which has been dragging on for nearly four years.

The circumstances surrounding his murder have been mired in controversy and there have been claims of cover-ups.

Two national commissioners

Kinnear was fatally shot outside his Cape Town home in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town on 18 September 2020.

He should have been under state protection at the time but was not.

Several police officers were found to have effectively failed Kinnear, but it is not clear whether they will face action for that.

Based on Ipid's letter from last week, Masemola is the second national police commissioner to...