Isakwisa Atupele Mwamasage, known in the local Rastafarian community as Ras Isa, was a Tanzanian national who died after reportedly being strangled by the police during a confrontation in Mowbray over alleged drug dealing.
Witnesses who claimed to have seen the video of the incident maintained the victim was taken away from his shop already dead and did not die in police custody as police alleged.
As with all matters involving alleged police misconduct, Ras Isa’s death is currently the subject of investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), to determine whether police breached protocol and could be held accountable for Ras Isa’s passing.
Following Cannabiz Africa correspondence to establish the SAHRC’s intended course of action on the matter, the organisation has announced that it is looking into the incident.
In a statement, the SAHRC head office in Joburg stated that the Western Cape Provincial Office (WCPO) of the SAHRC has opened an own-accord investigation into the matter and has been engaging with an official at the IPID in the Western Cape. The official confirmed to the WCPO that IPID was aware of the incident and that they had reported to the SAPS, Mowbray, whereafter a preliminary investigation was conducted.
“The IPID official will furnish the WCPO with an update in respect of the outcome of their investigation. The IPID official advised that IPID would take over the matter if the preliminary investigation confirmed police involvement in Ras Isa’s death, and that if the pathology report reflected something else, then the SAPS would be required to further investigate the cause of Ras Isa’s death.
The WC PO will continue to investigate the above matter in line with the SAHRC’s complaints handling procedure,” the SAHRC statement read.
SAPS has made no further comment on Ras Isa’s death other than to say it is being investigated. The Independent Police Directoriate Ipid, says it’s also investigating. The matter has been drawn to the attention of the Presidency by legal consultant Charl Botha who called for SAPS to recommit to the moratorium on cannabis arrests as per the August 2023 directorate from the National Police Commissioner. However, senior echelons of SAPS have been quiet on the issue, and if a circular from the KwaZulu Natal provincial commissioner is to go by, police are not changing their hardline attitude anytime soon.
The SAHRC also confirmed that a long-awaited report into a Rights of Rastafari Roundtable held in Boksburg in February to try to resolve Rasta-police tensions has now been finalised and will be publicised at an as yet unspecified date shortly.
The SAHRC convened and mediated the roundtable after it had identified the Rasta community as an Equality Focal Area (EFA) that deserved special treatment from the law, following complaints of violation of Rastafari religious rights, unlawful arrests and harassment, for Rastafari ritualistic cannabis use.
At the roundtable, speakers called for police to respect Rastafarian culture, objecting particularly to the way in which police spoke to them.
They claimed SAPS raids of sacred sites, churches and shrines were an assault on their everyday rituals and practices and impeded their right to religious practice.
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