Daveyton dragging driver ‘did not know’

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Video footage shows police dragging taxi driver Mido Macia behind a police van.

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Johannesburg - The driver of the police vehicle which dragged taxi driver Mido Macia was unaware the man was attached to the van, the Benoni Magistrate's Court heard on Tuesday.

Defence lawyer Elias Tshole said driver stated in an affidavit that he looked in the rear-view mirrors and did not see Macia.

“If someone is underneath (the vehicle) there is no way you will see them (in the rear-view mirrors).”

Another accused saw Macia being dragged and tried to intervene. In an affidavit, this man said: “I ran to try alert the person driving that bakkie that there was someone dragging [behind it]”.

Tshole argued this was consistent with the accused trying to save a life.

SAPS officers appear at their bail hearing in the Benoni Magistrates Court. The nine policemen pleaded not guilty to murdering Mido Macia, who was handcuffed and dragged behind a police vehicle and later died in police cells. Photo: Werner Beukes / Reuters

Reuters

Nine policemen are applying for bail after being arrested and charged with killing Macia.

They are: Thamsanqa Ncema, 35, Linda Sololo, 56, Meshack Malele, 45, Motome Walter Ramatlou, 37, Percy Mnisi, 26, Bongumusa Mdluli, 25, Sipho Ngobeni, 30, Lungisa Ewababa, 31, and Bongani Kolisi, 27.

Macia was filmed being tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on February 26. An eyewitness gave the footage to the Daily Sun newspaper. Macia was found dead in the police station's holding cells several hours later.

Tshole said: “Were they all dragging the deceased? Clearly, no.”

He said the circumstances would not support allegations that the policemen acted with common purpose, as the rules of common purpose did not pertain to the matter.

“If this court was sitting as a trial court today, they would be acquitted.”

Tshole said the accused, as policemen, had helped to maintain peace and security in the country. He said their release on bail would not compromise security.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate was handling the matter.

“It is currently an open secret they are suspended from work,” Tshole said.

“They cannot destroy evidence.”

The accused would also not intimidate witnesses, because they had no access to any relevant information or witnesses. The men also did not have the means to flee the country, he argued.

On Monday, the court heard Macia was in an accident several days before his death.

“A few days before his death he was involved in a car accident with schoolchildren,” defence lawyer Lokhimbar Dikatope said.

“Five of them [the children] died as a result. A case of culpable homicide was opened against him.”

On Monday the court heard that an autopsy found Macia had suffered extensive internal and external injuries and had died from oxygen deprivation, a condition known as hypoxia.

Earlier, magistrate Sam Makamu denied an application by the defence to shut down an overflow room with a live feed of court proceedings. - Sapa