ICD accused of covering up for police

THE family of a 28-year-old man yesterday dismissed as a cover-up an Independent Complaints Directorate investigation that their relative did not die due to a police assault.

Linda Mayeza died in hospital on April 4 after he was allegedly assaulted by two police officers at his home in Umlazi.

Sibongile Mayeza, Linda's mother, rejected the ICD conclusion that the postmortem findings showed that her son did not die of injuries sustained as a result of the alleged assault.

She said the family believed that the ICD was covering up for the police.

"I was there when the police officers bashed my son with a knobkerrie. They kicked him and punched him all over his body. They were so violent and ruthless. My son was in good health when those police officers entered my house. He was just drunk and nothing else," she said.

Linda Mayeza's death is a sequel to an incident on the night of April 2 when his mother called the KwaMakhutha police to pacify him and to stop him from causing trouble whenever he was drunk.

Two police officers arrived at her house and allegedly assaulted him. They punched and kicked him, according to Sibongile.

At the time of the assault, she and two of her son's nieces watched helplessly and begged the police to stop - but they did not. " Instead they grabbed me, slapped me hard and threw me outside," she said.

Sibongile Mayeza said her sister arrived and hired a car to take Linda to Prince Mshiyeni Hospital where he died a day later.

ICD spokesperson Moses Dlamini said tissue samples had been sent for forensic tests to establish the cause of death. He said the ICD had not found anything to suggest the assault had led to his death.

The two police officers are still on duty.