12 years later - police officers in dock for torture, murder
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating claims that police officers in the North West murdered and tortured suspects in police custody.
Law enforcement agencies have decided to prosecute ten police officials for the alleged torture of two suspects.
The officers will appear in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Tuesday.
The case relates to the alleged maltreatment of two suspects apprehended for a R14 million robbery of a store in Benoni in 2006.
According to Ipid spokesperson, Moses Dlamini, the officers implicated in the matter acted under the leadership of the former North West Organised Crime Unit Major-General Jan Mabula.
Dlamini says the police officers' alleged conduct led to "most (suspects) ending up dead or disappeared, one was allegedly tortured and murdered in Mmakau".
"Two of the surviving three were allegedly tortured by the notorious police officers," says Dlamini.
In a separate matter, two members of the so-called 'Mabula team' were charged with assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm in the Klerksdorp Magistrates Court earlier this month.
IPID is still awaiting a decision by prosecutors on whether a charge of murder will be brought.