S.Africa police in court after man dragged, killed

Eight South African police officers charged with the murder of a Mozambican man they dragged to custody behind a police van had their bail hearing delayed Monday.

The eight officers had been expected to appear in court and apply for release and to be formally charged with the murder of 27-year old Mido Macia.

But the case was delayed without the defendants appearing in the dock, amid fears of them being photographed and identified.

A magistrate agreed the case will resume once state witnesses have confirmed the identities of the accused.

The Mozambican taxi driver was filmed being manhandled, handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged hundreds of metres to the Daveyton police station, east of Johannesburg, on Tuesday. Just over two hours later he was found dead in custody. A post mortem found he died from head injuries and internal bleeding.

Footage of the incident spread quickly online and sent shockwaves throughout the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much maligned police force.

AFP