Pretoria - Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia removed his trousers as he was taken into the holding cells of the Daveyton police station, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Thursday.
“It is my instruction from accused four and six (of the nine former police officers accused of murdering Macia) that the deceased, while he was walking on his own, he was kicking out his trousers from his feet to the ground,” said defence attorney Marius van Wyngaardt.
He said this happened on the way to the cells.
“They (police officers) picked up the trousers and placed it on the deceased’s shoulders and they then escorted him into the cells.”
Judge Bert Bam then asked key state witness, Warrant Officer Mpumzi Ngamlana to explain whether he had seen Macia with his trousers hanging on his shoulders.
Ngamlana responded: “No, I deny that”.
The witness was in charge of the cells section of the Daveyton police station on the evening of February 26, 2013 when Macia was arrested and detained by a group of police officers.
On Wednesday, Ngamla told the court that Macia was half-naked and was bleeding inside the police cells before he died.
“I was about to forget something. The suspect [Macia] arrived without his trousers. He only had his underwear but did not have trousers. He had a t-shirt on his upper body and socks,” said Ngamlana.
With the assistance of another warrant officer, Ngamlana said they struggled to remove handcuffs from Macia’s hands because they were tied too tight.
“I tried with Warrant [Officer] Mofo to remove the handcuffs, they were tight. We ended up getting something like a pliers and it was then that were able to remove the handcuffs. They were double handcuffs,” said Ngamlana.
Nine former police officers - Bongamusa Mdluli, Meshack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Mnisi, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bongani Kolisi, Linda Sololo and Matome Ramatlou - face murder charges relating to Macia’s death.
They are all out on bail. They have all been dismissed from the SAPS following a disciplinary hearing.
Macia’s altercation with the police was captured on video. The incident made international headlines and sparked several protests against police brutality.
ANA