South African authorities have suspended eight officers accused of dragging a man from the back of a pick-up vehicle, an incident caught on video, and led to further anger after he died in custody.
Riah Phiyega, the police commissioner, condemned on Friday the “alleged brutal treatment” by officers, and ordered a murder probe.
“The [police] management regrets the incident that led to the death of Mido Macia,” Phiyega said.
“We would like to assure the country and the world, that what was in the video is not how [police] in South Africa goes about its work.”
The officers involved were also ordered disarmed, and the station commander removed, while the investigation is ongoing, she said.
The 27-year-old Mozambican taxi driver Macia, was found dead in detention with signs of head injuries and internal bleeding, according to an initial post-mortem report released by the country’s police watchdog.
The incident, videotaped on Tuesday and broadcast nationwide on Thursday, was condemned by President Jacob Zuma and opposition politicians.
“The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable. No human being should be treated in that manner,” Zuma said in a statement that described the incident as “the tragic death of a man in the hands of the police”.
Police told media they detained Macia after he parked illegally, creating a traffic jam and then resisted arrest. The video clearly showed the man scuffling with police, who subdued him.
He was then bound to the back of the pick-up by his arms before the vehicle drove off in front of scores of witnesses in the east Johannesburg area of Daveyton.
The latest fatal incident is drawing a storm of protest against the South African police force accused of routine brutality.
Lucy Holborn, of the South African Institute of Race Relations, told Al Jazeera that South Africa’s police force had a long history of using “brutality and violence” going back to the Apartheid era.
“I think that has permeated into the police force in the democratic era,” Holborn said.
“There’s a huge amount of pressure for the police to be tough on crime,” she said in the wake of allegations of corruption and incompetence in the police force.
The country is also struggling with the fallout from the Marikana mine shootings.
In August last year, the police opened fire on striking miners, killing dozens at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg.
Now a judicial commission is investigating allegations that many were shot in the back as they tried to escape. At the same time families of the victims are reportedly planning to file charges against the government for the deaths.
“It is absolutely par for the course,” said Nooshin Erfani, the coordinator of Wits Justice Project at WitwatersrandUniversity. “Such ridiculous things happen all the time.”
