An amateur video released in South Africa has shown a man being handcuff and tied at a back of a police van and being dragged on the ground as bystanders looked on with cheers in eastern Johannesburg.

The man was reportedly dead in police custody after the horrific incident which many right groups are calling for full-scale investigation into the incident.

The video, believed to be taken by a bystander with a mobile phone showed clearly a man being dragged at a back of a police van amid cheers from bystanders.

Local reports further say that police initially assaulted the 27-year-old driver, accusing him of parking his vehicle incorrectly in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg.

The death of Mido Macia believed to be a Mozambiquen, in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, has once more focused attention on South Africa’s police force, already dogged by allegations of brutality, corruption and incompetence.

But South African police watchdog said they have launched a murder investigation after video footage after carefully watching it.

The Daily Sun in South Africa reported that Macia’s hands were tied to the rear of a police van behind his head before it moves off.

Just over two hours later he was found dead in a local police cell, according to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) which a postmortem conducted by doctors gave the cause of death as head injuries with internal bleeding.

Amnesty International’s human rights organization’s southern Africa director, Noel Kututwa, said the incident was the latest in an increasingly disturbing pattern of brutal police conduct in South Africa and something urgent must be done to stop such practices.

It comes after a series of setbacks for the South African police force, struggling to demonstrate that its low paid, reputedly poorly-trained, officers can be trusted to uphold – or even obey – the law.

Last week, the case against Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was undermined when the lead investigating detective was removed from the case after being charged with seven counts of attempted murder himself.

Last year’s Marikana shootings, in which police opened fire on a crowd of striking miners, killing 34 at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg, are being investigated by a judicial commission.

Meanwhile, President Zuma has promised to get the perpetuated of this act brought to book as he voiced his displeasure about the incident calling it horrific and unacceptable.

“No human being should be treated in that manner, the police must operate within the confines of the law and not this way, Mr. Zuma said.

The opposition Democratic Alliance party (DA) also called for the officers involved to be suspended and for a thorough investigation to be carried out.

The opposition added that the fact that the crowd watched and did nothing to help – some even cheering – was a sad indictment of South African society.

But the Police have not conformed if the officers involved in the incident had been suspended or even question according to local reports.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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