Johannesburg – On Video: SAfrican Police Drag Man, Who Later Dies (graphic content)

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    In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man as he refuses to get into a police vehicle and seems to be tethered to the back of the vehicle before being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013.  The man died of his injuries.  In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd.  Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe.  (AP Photo/The Daily Sun)Johannesburg – They bound his hands to the rear of a van, and then sped off, dragging the slender taxi driver along the pavement as a crowd of onlookers shouted in dismay. The man was later found dead.

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    A gut-wrenching video of the scene is all the more disturbing because the men who abused the Mozambican immigrant were uniformed South African police officers and the van was a marked police vehicle.

    The graphic scenes of the victim struggling for his life shocked a nation long accustomed to reports of police violence.

    The Daily Sun, a South African newspaper, posted video the footage Thursday and it was quickly picked up by other South African news outlets and carried on the Internet. It sparked immediate outrage.

    “They are there for safety, but we as a people fear them more,” said Johannesburg resident Alfonso Adams. “You don’t know who to trust anymore.”

    Some of those in the crowd who watched the scene unfold in the Daveyton township east of Johannesburg shouted at the police and warned that it was being videotaped. The police did not seem at all concerned by all the witnesses and the presence of cameras as they tied Mido Macia, a 27-year-old from neighboring Mozambique, to the back of a police vehicle, his hands behind his head. At least three policemen participated in the incident. Macia was found dead in a Daveyton police cell late Tuesday.

    “We are going to film this,” several onlookers shouted in Zulu as the police tormented Macia. One bystander can be heard on the videotape shouting in Zulu: “What has this guy done?”

    A murder probe is underway on the evidence that Macia suffered head and upper abdomen injuries, including internal bleeding, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the police watchdog agency, said Thursday. The injuries could be from the dragging and he could also have been beaten later in police custody.

    “The allegations are that he was dragged behind a vehicle and his head was bent on the police vehicle. There are also allegations of assault,” said the investigative unit’s spokesman Moses Dlamini.

    The video evidence of the abuse renewed concerns about brutality, corruption and other misconduct by a national police force whose reputation has suffered in recent years amid reports that many officers lack training. Some have been charged with committing the crimes they are supposed to prevent, including rape and murder.

    “As horrific as it is, it is not exceptional. Hardly a week goes by without such stories of brutality,” said Jacob van Garderen, national director of Lawyers for Human Rights.
    In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered to the back of a police vehicle being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries.  In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd.  Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun)
    At first, Macia, dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt, is dragged along the road by the vehicle at slow speed, the footage shows. He awkwardly tries to keep step even though he is almost horizontal above the ground. Then the van stops, two policemen pick up the legs of the taxi driver and drop them to the ground as the van picks up speed and drives off, beyond the view of the camera.

    The police watchdog agency said the incident started just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday when the cab driver was allegedly obstructing traffic with his vehicle. Then Macia allegedly assaulted a constable and took his weapon before he was overpowered, the police investigative unit said.

    Macia was found dead in a cell over two hours later by another policeman, according to the watchdog agency.

    National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega “strongly condemned” what happened. South Africans are “urged to remain vigilant and continue to report all acts of crime irrespective of who is involved,” said Phiyega in a statement.

    Phiyega has tried to upgrade the reputation of the South African police since her appointment last year. Last month, Phiyega told a group of police officials the standing of the force “has been severely but not irreparably tarnished over the past several years.”

    The problems, though, are immense for a police force that has expanded from some 120,000 to almost 200,000 over the last decade, “often failing to match the increase in quantity with sufficient quality,” said Johan Burger, who served for 36 years on the force before becoming a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

    Several experts contacted by The Associated Press also said that in recent years there has been an increasing willingness to use a shoot-to-kill approach to the crime and violence.

    An average of 860 people a year died in police custody or as a result of police action between 2009 and 2010, up from 695 a year from 2003 to 2008, according to Burger of the security studies institute.

    Further staining the reputation of the police is the Marikana shootings when, on Aug. 16, 2012, a line of South African police opened fire on a crowd of striking miners, killing 34 at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. A judicial commission is investigating allegations that many were killed in a rocky hill, near the much-filmed initial scene of the attack, shot in the back as they tried to escape.


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    16 Comments
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    11 years ago

    This is the first I heard this story and I can only say that if the media does not cover this, it is a major crime. Not to mention that we can not trust a police force in a place we might visit, we should not be considering touring there. This should be a lesson to the future that the future is not decided by blind aggression and hatred.

    Norden
    Norden
    11 years ago

    My late wife ע”ה came from a large Jewish family that had lived in Johannesburg for many years. They were happy there and ב”ה they all prospered. Although they employed black domestic servants like the vast majority of Jews and Gentiles in their social and economic stratum they showed דרך ארץ towards them and – as far as I could ascertain – they were respected in return by their staff.

    When the long yearned for seeds of black rule began to germinate in South Africa my father-in-law and my brother-in-law (both of whom were in business) began to notice the deterioration of the rule of law in the country they had both been born in. Reluctantly – very reluctantly – they and many of the Johannesburg Jewish community began to pack their bags and to move to Melbourne, Australia.

    Their once-beautiful homes are now little more than slums. It is positively dangerous to go out at night in Johannesburg, I have been told. People are being robbed in the streets in broad daylight there daily.

    Unfortunately, not every birth of a new nation brings good things for its heretofore oppressed citizens. The “new” South Africa is a very sad case in point.

    Hardly any Jews remain there.

    11 years ago

    Good thing South Africa got rid of it’s white, racist government and replaced it with a black, racist, bloodthirsty government.

    11 years ago

    If this wasn’t done by Satmars then only 1 person besides me will comment. But since I wrote this now lots more will show that they really care (sic)

    ralph1527
    ralph1527
    11 years ago

    Where is Al Sharpton ????

    ALLAN
    ALLAN
    11 years ago

    This gets attention, but all the other rampant crime in South Africa gets little. It goes to show that racial equality can backfire. Some people just can’t handle themselves when they are granted freedoms. Somwhat similar to what has happened in Haiti. The control held on certain groups was done to prevent uncontrolled violence. Those who are decent law abiding people from any and all groups suffer. Freedom isn’t free, it comes with civic and social responsibilities.

    WhatEver1
    WhatEver1
    11 years ago

    To 1. I was in SA in summer of 2011 Its a beautiful country With a large Jewish presence. I davened in the Stanton shul on shabas we were together with R’ Yakev Pam. We went to the jungle for a few days close to Zimbabwe border. We spent time in cape town the nicest city on earth. This whole sick story is just a few sickos like every society have. I would advise every jew to go spent a vacation in SA its the easiest for kosher food, etc.

    PrettyBoyFloyd
    PrettyBoyFloyd
    11 years ago

    I guess black on black violence doesn’t get the same attention.

    Truth
    Truth
    11 years ago

    The hypocrisy of the PC world. Where is the outcry? How they had the Chutzpa to destroy SA due to Apartheid! Yes, this is what you get -you replace a normal Gov. into what you call Democracy. Actually this isn’t Democracy, but Anarchy. This is the way a lot of Western countries are heading, perhaps even the US.
    A lot here have jumped on a guy named Zimmerman who probably acted in self-defense, including the Pres., but they never say a word about the wanton violence that plagues our inner cities!

    honestbroker
    honestbroker
    11 years ago

    Start the Flotillas !!
    Let the UN condemnations begin !!
    have the EU nations start an academic boycot !!
    Where can I join the “million hoodie” March?!?!

    11 years ago

    BH
    People that have never visited SA have little right to speak about the country. South African gvirim empty their pockets to all and sundry who merely knock at their doors. Yes our country has major issues but we don’t go slandering when a psycho goes shooting his way through a bunch of schoolkids. If you dont know about the dynamics of SA rather keep quiet and come visit and see for yourself what our country is all about.

    Satmar
    Satmar
    11 years ago

    if it would be Dov Hikind who tied the Black-Face man to the van that dragged him, i can assure you this would be the top headlines world wide for the entire week, and the Media would demand the death penalty… but becuase it was black police, they shove it under the covers….