Johannesburg - If Mido Macia received immediate medical treatment when he was taken to the Daveyton police cells after being dragged behind a police van for several hundred metres, his chances of surviving would have been much better.
This is according to pathologist Dr Solly Skosana, who examined the 25-year-old Mozambican taxi driver following his death and conducted a post- mortem the next day.
Skosana revealed that Macia suffered injuries from the top of his head to his toe. This included severe brain injuries which, according to Skosana, were caused by severe blunt force trauma.
This was apart from the abrasions on his back and on other parts of his body, which were caused by him being dragged behind the police van.
Skosana took the stand in the Pretoria High Court on Friday to testify in the murder trial of nine former Daveyton policemen, who were fired after a disciplinary hearing into the events of February 26, 2013.
Meshack Malele, 46, of Daveyton, Thamsanqa Ngema, 35, of Benoni, Percy Mnisi, 26, of Daveyton, Bongamusa Mdluli, 25, of Daveyton, Sipho Ngobeni, 30, of Daveyton, Lungisa Gwababa, 31, of Benoni, Bongani Kolisi, 27, of Katlehong, Linda Sololo, 56, of Etwatwa, and Matome Ramatlou, 37, of Payneville all pleaded not guilty to murder.
Macia was approached by members of the police on the afternoon of the incident, after he illegally parked his taxi and caused a traffic jam.
An altercation between him and the police ensued and they tried to place him in the back of a police van.
According to the accused, one of Macia’s handcuffs became entangled to the leg of a bench in the back of the van when he fell out of the van.
They claimed he was dragged along the street of Daveyton to the local police station by mistake.
But the State claimed the accused were well aware of the fact he was being dragged behind the van.
A former colleague of the accused this week testified he was the cell commander when Macia was brought to the cells.
According to him, the bulk of the accused accompanied Macia to the cells and he had to be dragged because he was unable to walk.
He testified the half-naked Macia was bleeding from the head. He also said the taxi driver was slapped and manhandled in the cells. Macia was found dead two hours later, lying on his back with a pool of blood around his head.
Skosana testified he was called to examine the body in the cells a few hours after his death. Macia lay on his back with his arms stretched above his head. There was clotted blood around his head and his mouth, and blood spots on the cell walls and floor.
He had lacerations on his head, jaw, upper arms, back, lower legs and even on his scrotum. The inside of his upper lip was also bruised and he had bite marks on his tongue.
The cause of death was given as extensive soft tissue injury and a lack of oxygen.
The doctor testified that there were two sets of injuries – those caused by him being dragged behind the police van and the extensive brain injuries, caused by some type of blunt force. Skosana said both sets of injuries were so severe that on their own they could have caused Macia’s death.
A member of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Mboneni Ramadwa, who investigated the scene after Macia died, said Macia should have never been in the police cells.
He said he inspected the entries book at the police station, but there was no mention of Macia. He could not find anything on the computer system, apart from the inquest docket opened after the death.
“There was no reason for him being in the cells in the first place,” he said.
The defence will cross-examine the pathologist on Monday after consulting with their own expert this weekend.
Saturday Star