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SAPS Anti Gang Unit. (Photo: GCIS)
- IPID says the autopsy results will confirm the cause of death of a Cape Town man who was detained by police.
- Leroy Oliphant was allegedly attacked by members of the Anti-Gang Unit.
- Oliphant’s family say the police beat him to death.
The family of a 30-year-old man who died in police custody says he was treated like an animal.
The Independent Police Investigation Directorate (IPID) says it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Leroy Oliphant, of Elsies River in Cape Town, who died in police custody on Tuesday.
He was in the custody of the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit when he died.
Leroy’s aunt, Caren Potberg, described how he was allegedly treated in police custody and said he was killed like an animal.
“They beat him until he died.”
“He didn’t deserve to die like this, he wasn’t a dog,” Potberg said. She said another man who was with Leroy told them that he could hear him cry as the police assaulted him, and that after a while there was a dead silence.
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IPID spokeswoman Ndileka Cola said an investigation had been launched and post-mortem tests had been carried out. She said the autopsy results were important to the investigation, because they would confirm the cause of death.
“We are devastated, it is really difficult for us as a family to cope since we heard the news of Leroy’s death,” Potberg said.
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He said Oliphant left behind two children, an 11-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.
“He was on probation and was trying to fix his life, but the police still killed him,” he added.
According to the IOL report, when police took Oliphant from his home in Epping Forest, he reportedly told the owner to inform his probation officer that he was in custody because they had a meeting scheduled for that day.
The publication reported that according to community leader Imraahn Mukaddam, Oliphant’s landlady claimed that the officer had kicked off the door and could hear him being attacked.
Compiled by Sesona Ngqakamba and Cebelihle Mthethwa
