/ 1 March 2013

Second autopsy considered for Daveyton taxi driver

Johannesburg's residents are doing a lot better in adopting new modes of public transport.
Johannesburg's residents are doing a lot better in adopting new modes of public transport.

"The second autopsy is being considered. There have been so many allegations of assault, so this is just to confirm what happened," the Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Moses Dlamini said.

Mido Macia (27), a taxi driver and Mozambican national, was tied to the back of a police van and dragged along the street in Daveyton, on the East Rand, on Tuesday. An eyewitness filmed the assault.

Macia died in the local police station's cells later that day. The incident has been widely condemned, with several organisations and opposition parties attributing it to brutality and a lack of discipline in the South African Police Service.

Government also condemned the violence on Friday. "Government expresses its deepest condolences to the victim's family, friends and community," spokesperson Phumla Williams said in a statement.

"No acts of abuse and crime will be tolerated in our country. We are confident that Independent Police Investigative Directorate will conduct an independent and impartial investigation, and that the wheels of justice will turn in all abuse and criminal cases."

Williams said the government assured South Africans that police subscribed to a code of conduct.

"If South African Police Service officials are found to be in violation of the code of conduct, they will be dealt with accordingly."

Angry and appalled
The South African Council of Churches said it was angry and appalled at Macia's death.

"It is simply unacceptable and needs to be condemned in the most possible way by all those who have respect for human life and are committed to a non-violent South African nation," the council's general secretary Reverend Mautji Pataki said.

On Thursday, President Jacob Zuma called the video of the incident horrific.

"The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable," he said in a statement. "No human being should be treated in that manner."

He said police were required to operate within the confines of the law in executing their duties.

He also extended condolences to Macia's family and directed Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to investigate the incident.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Congress of the People, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, the Democratic Alliance, Amnesty International and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution have also condemned the incident.

On Wednesday, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate confirmed it was investigating the matter and interviewing witnesses. – Sapa