Daveyton police station
cells 'hell': resident
Sapa | 14 March, 2013 12:05
"If you have never been inside those (Daveyton) police station
cells, you haven't seen anything," resident Martin Mokoena told him during
a visit to the area.
The Daveyton police station
cells are hell, a local resident told Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa on
Thursday.
"If you have never been inside those (Daveyton) police station
cells, you haven't seen anything," resident Martin Mokoena told him during
a visit to the area.
Mthethwa and Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros were meeting
with Daveyton residents following the death of taxi driver Mido Macia in police
custody on February 26. Earlier that day he was dragged behind a police van.
Mthethwa listened and noted residents' complaints regarding the conduct
of police in the area.
Mokoena, 50, said police "brutally" assaulted him in 2011 when
he went to report his son, who broke his house's windows and doors. The son got
angry after he reprimanded him for arriving home late one night.
"Instead they told me to go back. When I refused, they assaulted me
and threw me into a cell."
Mokoena said he could not see properly and had difficulty hearing as a
result of the assault. He went to see a doctor, and later went to open a case
against the police.
"They told me I have to speak to the station commissioner if I have
a complaint against the police, but an officer opened a docket and registered
the complaint."
Mokoena said he had been following up on progress with the case, but
nothing had been happening.
The nine policemen accused of killing Macia were denied bail by the
Benoni Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Sam Makamu said he felt it was not in the interests of
justice to grant them bail. The matter would resume on April 12.
In delivering his ruling, Makamu said Daveyton residents could try to
seek revenge on the accused. He expressed concern at the prospect of sending
the men back to their homes in such an "unfavourable" climate.
