Beauregard Tromp, Angelique Serrao and Sapa
Police watchdog the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) has confirmed Andries Tatane, who was filmed being beaten with baton-wielding policemen, was shot dead.
However, ICD spokesman Moses Dlamini would not say whether the fatal wound was caused by a rubber bullet.
“The post mortem has been done but we’ve not released the details, except to say that the post mortem confirms that he was shot dead,” he said today.
Speaking to reporters from Ficksburg, Dlamini said it could take anything from “a couple of weeks” to a “month or two” before the details of the post mortem were released.
Television footage aired on SABC News last Wednesday showed a group of policemen beating Tatane during a service delivery protest in Meqheleng, Ficksburg.
Tatane was then seen holding his chest, looking down at blood pouring from a gunshot wound. He died 20 minutes later.
Six policemen arrested at the weekend were due to appear in the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court this morning in connection with Tatane’s death.
Two face charges of murder and four face charges of grievous bodily harm.
Court proceedings were delayed as the case had to be moved from the magistrate’s court to the regional court because of the overwhelming number of people who had turned up.
Tatane’s widow, Rose Makananelo Motlhaping dressed in black, arrived at court just before 9am today.
Inside Court A of the regional court, the widow was shown to a court bench along with family and other Meqheleng residents.
A police vehicle transporting a water cannon patrolled the streets of Ficksburg this morning before the hearing.
By late this morning a crowd of at least 200 protesters had gathered outside the court. Two men held up the images of Tatane’s beating
The crowd sang: “Hold us back, we want to kill these dogs,” pointing to the policemen guarding the closed court gate.
Sidiso Mpekoa, spokesman for Meqheleng Concerned Citizens Group, said residents were attending today’s hearing to express sympathy with Tatane’s family.
In a statement handed to journalists, the group “pleaded” with the court not to grant bail to the six policemen.
“We believe that their release on bail will further fuel the people’s anger and derail the course of negotiations. We count on the support and prayers of the nation at large. The blood of this fallen hero is enough,” they wrote.
Yesterday residents said they were worried there would be violence outside the court this morning.
Tatane’s friend, Molefi Nonyane, who had held him as he died, said:
“I’m worried there will be a problem. There will be a large volume of people outside the court and they are angry – there is no doubt about that.”
He planned to be inside the court building as he wanted to see the accused in the dock.
ICD director Francois Beukman said the directorate had acted after the footage of the police attack on Tatane was shown on SABC.
The directorate had immediately sent out a team to investigate.
“Police brutality cannot be tolerated in a constitutional democracy. Policing in 2011 should be totally different from the apartheid past that we come from.
“Police officers should uphold the rule of law and not be the ones accused of breaking it.”
Beukman said he had visited Tatane’s family at the weekend and had conveyed his condolences. Tatane is survived by his wife and two sons.
Beukman said he had also brought in more investigators from the Northern Cape to help their Free State colleagues.
“It was made clear to the investigators that the investigation should be thorough, yet swift,” Beukman said.
The six suspects had been identified with the assistance of witnesses, he said.
The ANC today welcomed the arrest of the policemen, but criticised the SABC for broadcasting footage of the attack.
Jackson Mthembu said the ANC remained opposed to the broadcast of Tatane’s death on television, “especially taking into account the insensitivity of showing grim visuals to… viewers who included Mr Tatane’s two young children and his wife”.
Mthembu added: “The swift action by the ICD to bring the perpetrators to book sends a good signal to all South Africans that no-one – not even police officers – are above the law in this country.
“This matter is now best left to our capable judiciary and other organs of state to deal with,” he said in a statement.
The ANC called on residents of the Free State town to remain calm.