Pathologist testifies on Macia’s injuries

27/07/2015. The nine police officers implicated in the death of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia lean over to listen to their advocates (not in pic) during their appearance at the North Gauteng High Court. Picture: Masi Losi

27/07/2015. The nine police officers implicated in the death of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia lean over to listen to their advocates (not in pic) during their appearance at the North Gauteng High Court. Picture: Masi Losi

Published Jul 31, 2015

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Pretoria - Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia, who was killed in 2013 allegedly by police officers, died as a result of extensive soft tissue damage and a lack of oxygen, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Friday.

Chief medical officer for forensic pathology in Gauteng, Dr Solly Kaiser Skosana, who examined Macia’s body, testified before Judge Bert Bam about the post mortem he conducted.

“After having observed injuries which were inflicted on the body of the deceased from the head and the head injuries, extensive soft tissue injuries, I drew a provisional diagnosis on the cause of death as extensive soft tissue injuries with some evidence of anoxia [lack of oxygen],” Skosana testified.

He said the diagnosis was provisional because at that stage a specimen was taken from Macia for histological examination.

“After studying the results of the histology, an opinion would inform [me] on the final diagnosis of death. That [opinion] was extensive soft tissue injuries with anoxia. That was all, my lord,” Skosana said as he testified.

He told the court how he found Macia on the evening of February 26, 2013 in the Daveyton police cells.

Describing what he saw, he said: “The deceased was lying on the floor facing up, with his arms above his head. There was clotted blood underneath his face and on his mouth area. He was wearing a soiled red t-shirt and black and white underpants.”

“There was other brownish white torn underpants at at his knees. He had torn socks. On examination of the body, rigor mortis had not set in,” said Skosazna.

Rigor mortis is the stiffening of the body muscles which occurs after death.

“Further examination of the (police) cells showed some blood spots on the walls and floor. In one area, which was a small room, there was a soiled towel. When I asked the police what it was for, they said it was an old rag not belonging to the he deceased,” he said.

The medical practitioner went on to conduct an extensive post mortem on Macia’s body the following day.

“He had a three centimetre laceration right angle of the mandible, which is the angle of the jaw. He had haematoma, which is a swelling, on [the] left parietal area of the scalp. There were two lacerations at the back of the head adjacent to each other. There was a six centimetres by two centimetres wide linear abrasion… at the back of the right chest opposite the tenth vertebral,” Skosana said.

He continued: “There were friction abrasions with underlying bruising extending to the lumbar area. In layman’s terms, abrasion is [defined as] scratches which came about as a result of somebody being dragged or something moving against the skin. They stretched from the back of the chest until the lumbar area, my lord,” said Skosana.

He listed 18 external injuries on Macia’s body including several abrasions discovered during the medico-legal post mortem examination. The body was then opened for further examination.

Macia was found dead in the Ekurhuleni police station’s holding cells after an altercation with nine officers regarding a traffic violation on February 26, 2013.

In cellphone video footage which later surfaced Macia is seen being handcuffed and dragged behind a police van in Daveyton.

Nine former police officers - Bongamusa Mdluli, Meshack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Mnisi, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bongani Kolisi, Linda Sololo and Matome Ramatlou - were in court on Friday, facing murder charges relating to Macia’s death.

They are all out on bail. All have been dismissed from the SAPS following the internal disciplinary hearing.

The trial will resume on Monday.

ANA

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