Mom’s vigil for beloved son killed by SA cops
Mido Macia’s murder by police has impoverished his family
EACH week for more than two years now, Joaneta Macia has taken a short taxi ride to Texlom cemetery, outside Maputo in Mozambique.
The journey gives her some comfort, a private moment to talk to her son, Mido, who was killed by eight South African policemen in February 2013.
As she cleans his grave, Joaneta, 51, briefly escapes from the reality of life after his death.
“Before the trial, I asked him if there will ever be justice for him. I asked him to forgive us for not being at court.”
The family live in a village near Maputo. They have very little, especially after Mido’s death. He worked in Johannesburg and sent money home.
This weekend, Joaneta will tell her son that the men who took his life are behind bars.
On Tuesday, the High Court in Pretoria convicted Meshack Malele, Thamsamqa Mgema, Percy Jonathan Mnisi, Bongamusa Mdluli, Sipho Sydwell Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bongani Kolisi and Linda Sololo of Mido’s murder.
The case resumes for sentencing next month and the lawyers for the policemen have hinted at a possible appeal against their conviction.
“They can serve a hundred years, nothing will ever bring back my son,” said Joaneta on Thursday.
Mido, 27, was handcuffed to a police van and dragged along a street in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg. The horrific scene was captured on a cellphone and went viral, mak- ing international headlines. The court heard evidence that the policemen had assaulted Mido after an altercation.
A state pathologist, Dr Solly Kaizer Skosana, testified that Mido had deep cuts on his skull caused by blunt force.
He died from extensive softtissue injuries and lack of oxygen in a police cell that night.
Said Joaneta: “These people [policemen] portrayed him as someone violent.” She did not believe it and had prayed for the truth to come out.
As she sat under a mango tree outside her home this week, her face briefly lit up when she recalled how Mido loved it there.
He had plans to marry Biuda Mazive, whom he had met in Johannesburg a few years earlier. The two have a son, Sergio, and lived in Daveyton. Mazive has not been back to South Africa since Mido was buried.
Mido had started renovating the family’s two-bedroom house in the village, was slowly buying new furniture and had hoped to buy a patch of land on which to build a new house one day.
Now the 11-member family survive mainly on the R1 300 wage of Mido’s father, Silvestre.
Plans for Mido’s younger sister to study have been put on hold. Instead, she is looking for a job as a domestic worker. Another sister, Melita, is in South Africa, where she hopes to find a job. Joaneta is honest about fearing for the safety of her daughter in Johannesburg. “My spirit is not at ease.”
Lawyers for the family are in negotiations with the South African Police Service to settle a R6.5-million civil claim.
Silvestre, 62, said no sum would erase the heartache of losing a child. “If we do get it, we will send his child to school and build him a home.”