Pretoria - One of the nine former police officers accused of murdering Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia was acquitted by the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Matome Ramatlou walked out of the court a free man after Judge Bert Bam told him that there was no evidence linking him to the murder.
“You can go,” Bam told Ramatlou who immediately walked to sit in the public gallery.
A previous key State witness, police officer Mpumzi Ngamlana told the court that he had erred when he implicated Ramatlou - who was accused number nine.
The other eight former police officers - Bongamusa Mdluli, Meshack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Mnisi, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bongani Kolisi and Linda Sololo - will continue to face murder charges relating to Macia’s death.
They are all out on bail. The accused were all dismissed from the SAPS following a disciplinary hearing.
Macia was approached by members of the police on the afternoon of the incident in February 2013, after he illegally parked his taxi and caused a traffic jam.
An altercation between him and the police ensued and they tried to place him in the back of a police van.
According to the accused, one of Macia’s handcuffs became entangled to the leg of a bench in the back of the van when he fell out of the van.
They claimed he was dragged along the street of Daveyton to the local police station by mistake.
But the State claimed the accused were well aware of the fact he was being dragged behind the van.
Macia was later found dead in the Daveyton police station’s holding cells.
The incident made international headlines and sparked several protests against police brutality.
Meanwhile, the SA Police Service said on Tuesday that it would not defend the civil claim against the police minister filed by Macia’s family.
“The SAPS would like to confirm that the SAPS will not be defending the civil litigation in respect of the death of Mido Macia,” spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said.
“However, the SAPS has instructed the State Attorney to invite the attorney representing the plaintiff in this matter to a round table discussion to discuss the civil claim. We have stated in the past and we maintain that we will not allow for this matter to become a long drawn out court battle.”
In December last year the Macia family filed a civil claim of R6.5 million for damages against the police minister, according to reports.
Naidoo said that the documents that have been filed in court was a “miscommunication” which the SAPS was in the process of rectifying.
“Because it was never our intention to argue this matter in court. Actually, we are surprised that this matter had ended up in court papers being filed.”
ANA and Independent Media