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South African police face inquiry over death of man 'dragged behind van' South African police face inquiry over death of man 'dragged behind van'
(about 2 hours later)
South Africa's police watchdog is investigating the death of a man after video emerged apparently showing him being tied to the back of a police van and dragged while a bystander filmed. South Africa's police watchdog has launched a murder investigation after video footage emerged appearing to show a man being tied to the back of a police van and dragged along the road while bystanders looked on.
Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate told eNCA, a South African news channel, that he was shocked by the police conduct and that a murder probe was under way. The cause of death was not immediately clear. Mido Macia, a 27-year-old taxi driver from neighbouring Mozambique, was found dead in a police cell in the Daveyton township east of Johannesburg at 9.15pm on Tuesday less than two-and-a-half hours after the incident, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said. A postmortem found the cause of death to be head injuries with internal bleeding.
The Daily Sun, a South African newspaper, published amateur video footage (warning: contains images some may find distressing) in which uniformed police appeared to subdue the man and tie him to the back of a police vehicle in front of a crowd. The event was apparently filmed on a mobile phone. The video footage provoked outrage, with Amnesty International describing it as "shocking". The human rights organisation's southern Africa director, Noel Kututwa, said it was "the latest in an increasingly disturbing pattern of brutal police conduct in South Africa".
South African media say the man was a taxi driver who had been approached by police east of Johannesburg. South African newspaper the The Daily Sun published the amateur video footage (warning: contains images some may find distressing) in which uniformed police appeared to subdue Macia then tie his hands to the rear of a police van behind his head before the vehicle moves off while he tries in vain to keep step.
The van then stops, two policemen pick up his legs and drop them to the ground as the vehicle picks up speed and drives off, beyond the view of the camera.
It appears that at least three policemen participated in the incident. IPID said that, according to the police, Macia assaulted a police officer and took his firearm after officers asked him to move his taxi because it was obstructing traffic. This was not captured in the video footage.
The IPID said: "When backup arrived the constable was still at the scene struggling to put the suspect in the police van. The policemen then put the resisting suspect into the back of the police van and they took him to the police station where he was detained." The IPID added that it was "investigating allegations that the deceased was dragged on the road with the police vehicle".
When contacted by the Guardian, a spokesman for Johannesburg police refused to comment.
Amnesty's 2012 annual report documented allegations against the police of excessive force, torture, rape and extra-judicial executions. It said that the IPID received 720 new cases for investigation of suspicious deaths in custody or in other policing contexts from April 2011 to March 2012.
The Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria has reported that the number of people shot dead by police doubled in the four years to 2010. Deaths in police custody or resulting from police action numbered 860 in 2009-2010, higher than the period 2003-2008, when they averaged 695 a year. The police force said national police commissioner Riah Phiyega "strongly condemned" what had happened and said people were "urged to remain vigilant and continue to report all acts of crime irrespective of who is involved".