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SOUTH AFRICA: Spotlight on Police Force

SOUTH AFRICA: Spotlight on Police Force Zuma slams police “brutality” and calls for the rooting out of “rotten” cops. South Africa's police force has staggered into another scandal over its strong‐arm methods, the latest in a long history of violent incidents that stretch deep into the country's apartheid past. Nine officers were arrested on murder charges on March 1st after a Mozambican immigrant, Mido Macia, who was dragged behind a police van, died in custody. The officers denied the charges in a bail hearing on the 8th. In court affidavits they alleged Macia had resisted arrest and assaulted police when he was confronted after barring the road with his minibus taxi, © AFP reported (9/3) . Footage of the taxi driver's death spread quickly online and sent shock waves across the world, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's police force, already pilloried for the shooting deaths of 34 miners in the Marikana massacre of August 2012 and for the recent handling of the Oscar Pistorius case. Mourners in Mozambique buried Mr Macia on March 9th. Leaving the cemetery, Jossefa Macia said the family would now focus on getting justice; it plans to sue the police ministry for damages, the family's lawyers said. The shadow of the Marikana massacre hung over Human Rights Day celebrations on the 21st as the country commemorated another day of police brutality – more than 50 years before Marikana – when 69 people were gunned down in Sharpeville, reported The Star , Johannesburg (22/3) . Speaking at a rally in Mbekweni, Paarl, President Jacob Zuma said there had been “regrettable, shocking and unacceptable incidents involving the SAPS [South African Police Service] since the last Human Rights Day commemoration”. “Today we reaffirm our determination to build a police service that respects the rights of all,” Zuma told the packed hall. The President urged citizens to help the police fight crime and “root out rotten apples from their ranks who engage in criminal action, including corruption”. Meanwhile on her first day of giving evidence, South Africa's police chief Riah Phiyega on March 14th told a judicial inquiry into the shooting of the Marikana mineworkers that the incident was “regrettable.” “The protracted and ever‐increasing violent protest at Marikana, which culminated in the catastrophic and unprecedented loss of life, is to me regrettable,” she said. Police have claimed they acted in self‐defence when they opened fire on thousands of the miners who were gathered on a hill outside the mine, demanding wage increases. (Sources as referenced in text) Pistorius case shines light on shambolic police force p. 19617 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

SOUTH AFRICA: Spotlight on Police Force

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2013
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2013.05014.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Zuma slams police “brutality” and calls for the rooting out of “rotten” cops. South Africa's police force has staggered into another scandal over its strong‐arm methods, the latest in a long history of violent incidents that stretch deep into the country's apartheid past. Nine officers were arrested on murder charges on March 1st after a Mozambican immigrant, Mido Macia, who was dragged behind a police van, died in custody. The officers denied the charges in a bail hearing on the 8th. In court affidavits they alleged Macia had resisted arrest and assaulted police when he was confronted after barring the road with his minibus taxi, © AFP reported (9/3) . Footage of the taxi driver's death spread quickly online and sent shock waves across the world, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's police force, already pilloried for the shooting deaths of 34 miners in the Marikana massacre of August 2012 and for the recent handling of the Oscar Pistorius case. Mourners in Mozambique buried Mr Macia on March 9th. Leaving the cemetery, Jossefa Macia said the family would now focus on getting justice; it plans to sue the police ministry for damages, the family's lawyers said. The shadow of the Marikana massacre hung over Human Rights Day celebrations on the 21st as the country commemorated another day of police brutality – more than 50 years before Marikana – when 69 people were gunned down in Sharpeville, reported The Star , Johannesburg (22/3) . Speaking at a rally in Mbekweni, Paarl, President Jacob Zuma said there had been “regrettable, shocking and unacceptable incidents involving the SAPS [South African Police Service] since the last Human Rights Day commemoration”. “Today we reaffirm our determination to build a police service that respects the rights of all,” Zuma told the packed hall. The President urged citizens to help the police fight crime and “root out rotten apples from their ranks who engage in criminal action, including corruption”. Meanwhile on her first day of giving evidence, South Africa's police chief Riah Phiyega on March 14th told a judicial inquiry into the shooting of the Marikana mineworkers that the incident was “regrettable.” “The protracted and ever‐increasing violent protest at Marikana, which culminated in the catastrophic and unprecedented loss of life, is to me regrettable,” she said. Police have claimed they acted in self‐defence when they opened fire on thousands of the miners who were gathered on a hill outside the mine, demanding wage increases. (Sources as referenced in text) Pistorius case shines light on shambolic police force p. 19617

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Apr 1, 2013

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