To serve and protect

A couple of years back we carried a feature on police forces around the continent. It wasn't a very flattering look, mind you. We were interested in how some law enforcement agencies in Africa act with what seems to be little restraint.
At the time we knew that the feature could hardly be conclusive - police brutality is an issue which doesn't seem to go away. Since then human rights groups have pointed fingers at Nigeria and Kenya as two countries suspected of having heavy handed police forces.
One police force that is thought to have shaken off its poor image is South Africa's. In the years before 1994 - particularly during the turbulent 1980s - the country's cops were a derided symbol of violence. But that was supposed to have changed.
Not according to this piece - and certainly not according to a column by Antony Altbeker carried in the latest issue of the magazine. Using this shocking incident as a starting point, Altbeker says that police brutality points to other things, most importantly how difficult it is to build a stable, democratic state. So who are the forces actually protecting - the rulers or the ruled?
It seems the thin blue line is very thin indeed.