120 Die in
Police Custody
By ZWANGA MUKHUTHU on
March 4, 2013 in
THE
Eastern Cape recorded the third highest number of deaths of people in police
custody in the country with 120 dying in police cells in 2011-12.
SAPS
A 2011-12
annual report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid)
revealed a record 932 people died in police custody countrywide in the period
with 120 of those dying in the Eastern Cape police cells.
KwaZulu-Natal police cells with 268 deaths leads the pack followed by Gauteng police cells with 217 deaths.
The report shows deaths in police custody have increased substantially in the past 10 years.
The conduct by South African Police Services is currently under the spotlight following the death last week of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia in Gauteng.
The 27-year-old man died in custody and eight policemen have since been arrested and are due to appear in court today .
The Ipid is also probing the death of an Eastern Cape policeman who died in police custody at the Barkly East police station earlier this year.
Sergeant Sibongile Xoli, who worked at the Barkly East police station, was found dead in a cell at the police station on January 25, a day after he was detained for allegedly being drunk.
While immediate action was taken against the Gauteng police accused of being involved in Macia’s death, the Eastern Cape Police, Prisons and Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said yesterday no action had been taken against those responsible for Xoli’s death.
Popcru’s provincial chairman Loyiso Mdingi said: “What we know is that the Ipid is investigating the case but to what extent we don’t know.
“ No one in the police station is facing consequences for the murder of this policeman.”
It is still unclear how Xoli died but according to Mdingi allegations are he was assaulted by other policemen before being locked up.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Celiwe Binta on Friday warned police officers against abusing their powers.
“You have the power to arrest and detain, in other words to take a person’s freedom away from them – this is a power never to be taken lightly or abused,” Binta said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
