THE investigation into the shooting of Ficksburg protester Andries Tatane by police during protest action in the Sesotho local municipality could be finished by the end of the week.

This is according to Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) spokesperson Moses Dlamini yesterday.

He was speaking after the appearance of six public order policemen in the Ficksburg regional court in connection with the death of Tatane.

The case against police officers Olebogeng IMphirime, Tehedi Moeketsie, Jonas Skosana and Mphonyane Ntaje, facing charges of assault, and Israel Moiloa and Mothusi Maqana, facing charges of murder, was postponed to April 26 for bailhearings.

Dlamini confirmed that Tatane died "from shooting", when he was questioned about the release of the postmortem report on the cause of Tatane's death.

Tatane was killed, allegedly by the group of policemen, last Wednesday after challenging them to spray him with a water cannon during a protest march.

The police officers allegedly shot Tatane and beat him.

SABC television footage showed a group of policemen beating Tatane with batons, after which he was seen holding his chest and looking down at blood on his chest.

He collapsed and died 20 minutes later.

A spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, Dawood Adam, said the NPA had senior personnel working on the legal processes in an effort to bring finalisation to the issue as soon as possible.

"It's in the public interest that the investigations be as quick as possible," he said.

Adam said the case was of national and international importance because the public's confidence in the SA Police Service was at stake.

Adam said the NPA was happy with the progress made as "a lot of investigations" had been made the last week or so.

Adam was sure that a docket in the Ficksburg matter would be presented to the NPA soon so that a final decision on the state's case could be made.

Dlamini said there was a possibility that more arrests could follow as the investigation was not finalised. Asked about other alleged police brutality cases, Dlamini said these would be attended to by investigators. - Sapa