Taxi driver death case postponed

.

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

Johannesburg - The case against eight policemen implicated in the death of a Daveyton taxi driver was postponed by the Benoni Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Magistrate Sam Makamu granted a request by the prosecution that the policemen not be identified yet. He postponed the case until Friday.

“The reason why we are requesting a postponement is we want to hold an identity parade, so no pictures must be taken in order to prevent the prejudice of the case,” prosecutor December Mthimunye had submitted.

The identity parade is scheduled for Thursday. The eight are expected to apply for bail on Friday.

Makamu also gave permission for the accused to be kept in the holding cells at an undisclosed police station.

Lawyers for the policemen contended that they could not be kept at the Modderbee prison in Benoni, as many of the people they had helped to convict were there.

The two warrant officers and six constables have been charged with the murder of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia, 27.

He was allegedly tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on Tuesday. An eyewitness filmed the assault.

Macia was found dead in the local police station's holding cells several hours later. A post mortem revealed that he had died of head and internal injuries.

At the time, Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini said police claimed they ordered Macia to move when they found his minibus illegally parked.

“It is alleged that the taxi driver then assaulted the constable and took his police firearm. The warrant officer overpowered the taxi driver and handed the firearm back to his colleague,” he said.

Dlamini said the officer then called for backup.

The police claimed they put the “resisting suspect” into the police van and took him to the police station.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions alleged that police had said Macia died when other men attacked him in the cells.

Sapa