Wonder Hlongwa
A taxi driver from Pinetown in KwaZulu- Natal claims he was arrested, handcuffed to a chair for seven hours, assaulted and suffocated after he reported to police that his minibus was stolen.
Three weeks ago, the minibus Mthokozisi Mwelase (26) drives was stolen outside his home. He reported the theft at the Marianhill police station.
Last Friday, three policemen, led by Detective Inspector Sifiso Mkhize, arrested Mwelase, apparently acting on information that he had sold the minibus. Although Mwelase had laid his complaint at Marianhill, he was taken to Hillcrest police station for questioning. “They sjambokked me, stripped me naked, put a tyre tube around my face to suffocate me, tied my hands to a chair and kicked me all over my body. Then they said, `We are going to a braai now. When we come back we’ll be drunk and you’ll tell us the truth,'” he claims.
Mwelase said an allegedly drunk Mkhize returned and threatened to take him to a river and drown him. He claims Mkhize denied him access to a doctor, until his lawyer intervened.
Since his ordeal, Mwelase has not slept at home for fear of another attack by “policemen-cum-vigilantes”. He sustained serious head injuries after the assault.
“I saw the injuries on his wrists. He had been handcuffed for seven hours, sjambokked, kicked and deprived of oxygen. They did all this without any evidence that he had sold the taxi,” said Mxolisi Nxasana, Mwelase’s attorney.
Mwelase has laid a charge of assault against Mkhize and his colleagues. He is also seeking legal aid to file a civil case against Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete.
Hillcrest police station’s acting commander, Captain Andr Fourie, confirmed that Mwelase had laid a charge but said “it is too early to comment on the pace of investigation”.
Mkhize has denied all the accusations. He said he never touched Mwelase: “This is all absolute lies, we didn’t torture anyone. We arrested him because we had information that he had sold the taxi. When we could not extract that from him, we released him.”
Asked why Mwelase was not taken to the Marianhill police station, Mkhize said he cannot discuss such things with the Mail & Guardian.
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) will monitor the investigation into Mwelase’s assault charges. “It seems to me Mkhize abused his power by taking it upon himself to investigate the matter that had been reported to another police station,” said Jabu Ngwane of the ICD.