Unsolved deaths in police custody

Read Community in shock, as police brutality leaves one dead.

Police told Mbatsha‘s family that he died after suffering an epileptic fit. According to the deceased’s aunt, Lulu Mgoma, Mbatsha had never had an epileptic fit.

Eyewitnesses claimed they saw the police beating Mbatsha early in the morning at a stadium near his home.

Residents have called the police liars, and complain that the police often beat people and get away with it.

GroundUp has followed up on the case. According to Lieutenant Traut, police cannot comment on Mbatsha’s case as it was investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

Moses Dlamini, national spokesperson for the IPID, said, “The cause of Mbatsha’s death could not be determined by the first post mortem.” He said a second opinion had been requested and that the toxicology results are outstanding.

In a similar incident in December 2012, reported on by Denise Williams for The Times, Obinna Ugboaja died in police custody. In January, the Nigerian Union marched to parliament to demand an end to police beatings.

Kanyi Dyantyi, the fiancé of Ugboaja, said that she was shocked when she was taken to the mortuary to find marks on his neck and his mouth covered with blood. The police told Dyanti that Ugboaja overdosed on cocaine, but Dyatyi does not believe them.

The Nigerian Union in the Western Cape opened a case at the Cape Town Central Police station. According to the newspaper article, the Union said that in most cases such brutality is swept under the carpet because it is assumed that all Nigerians are criminals.

Again, police could not comment as the case is investigated by the IPID, the post mortem examination is inconclusive, and toxicology tests are outstanding.

According to the Independent Complaints Directorate 2011/2012 annual report, cited by Williams, 932 people died in police custody or as a result of police action in that reporting year.

It is believed that both cases have not yet been to court because there are hundreds of unsolved similar cases. Both families do not know what is happening to the cases. Since there is no conclusion on how the men died, no arrests have been made.The cases have been pending for the past year.