Pretoria - Cellphone footage taken of Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia being dragged through Daveyton’s streets is expected to assist the prosecution and defence to find common ground and shorten the trial of nine former policemen.
They briefly appeared in the high court in Pretoria on Monday, where their trial was due to start.
Prosecutor Charles Mnisi told Judge Bert Bam the parties were due to watch the footage so as to agree on certain admissions before the trial started.
Mnisi said this would shorten the proceedings significantly.
The incident during which Macia was dragged through the streets and was found dead two hours later in the Ekurhuleni police cells occurred nearly two-and-a-half years ago. The trial had to be postponed on various occasions, but is now due to start on Tuesday.
It is expected to run for at least three weeks. According to the indictment, the State will call 32 witnesses. Fewer witnesses may, however, be called to the stand following Monday’s negotiations between the parties to curtail proceedings.
The nine former policemen are: Meshack Malele, 46, of Daveyton, Thamsanqa Ngema, 35, of Benoni, Percy Jonathan Mnisi, 26, of Daveyton, Bongamusa Mdluli, 25, of Daveyton, Sipho Sydwell Ngobeni, 30, of Daveyton, Lungisa Gwababa, 31, of Benoni, Bongani Kolisi, 27, of Katlehong, Linda Sololo, 56, of Etwatwa and Matome Walter Ramatlou, 37, of Ramatlou. They are all out on bail.
The cellphone footage of the dragging which shocked the country, showed Macia being knocked to the ground, before he was tied to the back of a police van. The police allegedly drove off and dragged him for about 400m.
The police claimed they confronted Macia for refusing to remove his minibus taxi, which was obstructing traffic.
The constables implicated in the incident have meanwhile been dismissed following a disciplinary hearing.
According to the indictment, Malele and Ngema confronted Macia on the afternoon of February 26, 2013, as his taxi was allegedly obstructing traffic. The two policemen then called for back-up as an argument ensued during which they took Macia’s driving licence.
A crowd meanwhile gathered and according to the prosecution the policemen handcuffed Macia to the police van and drove off with him.
He later died of extensive soft tissue injuries. The State will argue that all the accused acted with common purpose.
None of Macia’s family members were at court, but a friend, Badanisile Ngwenya, said it was a difficult time for them, especially for his mother.
“Every time they are at court it opens old wounds. Coming to court is very difficult for the family.”
Jose Nascimento, acting for Macia’s family, said that although the case has taken nearly two-and-a-half years to come to trial, they were not unhappy that it stood down on Monday if the parties succeeded in finding common ground.
He felt that, looking at the objective facts in the case, the prosecution had a good case.
“Here was a 27-year-old man in good health. He was later found dead in police custody. That says a lot.”
Nascimento questioned why Macia’s family had to date not received any compensation from the police following his death.
He said a bank account was opened, but no money was paid in. “They have not yet received one cent compensation,” he said.
Pretoria News