Ramphele shocked at taxi driver death
2013-03-01 19:02
Johannesburg - Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele expressed
shock on Friday at the death of a minibus taxi driver who was allegedly
assaulted by police.
"Coming after Marikana, I am deeply shocked by this
behaviour. The fact that police did this quite openly... is an example of the
culture of impunity which has taken root in our public service," the party
political platform leader said in a statement.
"Some members of the police - who are no longer a
service but a force, as they were under apartheid - are behaving with
unbelievable callousness."
Mido Macia, 27, a taxi driver and Mozambican national,
was tied to the back of a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton on
the East Rand on Tuesday.
An eyewitness filmed the assault. Macia died in the local
police station's cells later that day.
Ramphele said people should wait for a full investigation
into the incident before passing judgement. However, footage showed that the
officers behaved inappropriately.
"By whatever standards we judge it, this is a clear
act of police brutality."
National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said on Friday
morning that the officers involved in the incident had been suspended.
"I have also instructed that the officers involved
be disarmed," she said during a media briefing in Pretoria.
"We are also removing the current station commander
of Daveyton police station from his position so that investigations can proceed
uninhibited."
Earlier on Friday, the ANC condemned Macia's death.
"The ANC believes that the role of the police is
[to] protect and preserve life," ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in
a statement.
"We call on the public that witnessed the incident
to come forward and assist with information that will provide facts and [an]
account of the incident."
Government also expressed its condolences on Friday.
"No acts of abuse and crime will be tolerated in our
country. We are confident that IPID [Independent Police Investigative
Directorate] will conduct an independent and impartial investigation, and that
the wheels of justice will turn in all abuse and criminal cases," spokesperson
Phumla Williams said in a statement.
The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) called on all taxi
drivers to observe a minute of silence on Wednesday at 07:00 by switching off
their vehicles in respect for Macia.
"We call upon all our taxi drivers and community
members to remain calm and restrained under these circumstances, and allow the
law to take its course," Santaco general secretary Philip Taaibosch said.
"We, however, wish to guarantee our taxi drivers
that their rights as human beings will be protected and defended at all
costs."
On Thursday, President Jacob Zuma called the video of the
incident horrific.
The Cosatu, the Congress of the People, the Police and
Prisons Civil Rights Union, the DA, Amnesty International, and the Council for
the Advancement of the SA Constitution have also condemned the incident.
- SAPA
