Over 900 die in South African police custody
Sapa | 04
March, 2013 08:35
About 932 people died in police custody in South
Africa in 2011-12, a report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate
(Ipid) revealed.
KwaZulu-Natal
had 268 deaths with Gauteng second at 217 deaths and Eastern Cape had 120, the
Dispatch Online reported.
Meanwhile,
eight police officers, implicated in the death of an East Rand taxi driver, are
expected to appear in the Daveyton Magistrate's Court on Monday.
The two
warrant officers and six constables face a murder charge following the death of
Mido Macia while in police custody.
The
officers allegedly tied 27-year-old Macia to the back of a police van and
dragged him along a street in Daveyton on Tuesday.
Macia, a
taxi driver and Mozambican national, died at the local police station's cells
several hours later. His body was found by a police officer on Tuesday night.
A post
mortem revealed he died of head and internal injuries.
Ipid
spokesman Moses Dlamini said police reported that they had earlier found Macia
wrongfully parked on a road and ordered him to move.
Macia's
death caused a public outcry against police brutality.
The
Dispatch Online reported that the Ipid was also investigating the death of a
policeman who died in police custody at the Barkly East police station in
January, a day after he was detained for allegedly being drunk.
