MOZAMBIQUE WANTS EXPLANATION OF DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY

Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi told reporters on Monday that the government is working with the South African authorities to discover the real causes of the death in South African police custody last week of Mozambican citizen Justica Malate. Malate was detained by the police in Daveyton on the night of 31 May. He was thrown into the police cells supposedly for public drunkenness and resisting arrest. A few hours later he was dead. What made matters worse, saud Baloi, was that Malate died in the same cell where another Mozambican, taxi driver Mido Macie, was murdered by the South African police in 2013. “Something is definitely wrong here But we are on the ground working”, said Baloi, speaking at a press conference held to mark the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Mozambican diplomatic serviceThe Mozambican authorities have asked for an autopsy on Malate’s body, and are waiting for the laboratory results. Baloi said the Mozambican consulate in South Africa had sought a lawyer for Malate’s family, who were the first to accuse the police of murder, after observing the state of the body.Despite the deaths in police custody of Macie and Malate, and despite the wave of xenophobic attacks earlier this year against foreigners living in South Africa, Baloi said that relations between the two countries remain normal.He said that the visit of South African President Jacob Zuma to Mozambique in May had been useful in reaffirming normal relations, and establishing greater coordination in solving problems.“In all relations, there are always problems”, said Baloi. “In our relations with South African we have always had problems. President Zuma’s visit allowed us to consolidate and to find other forms of work. One of our decisions was that bilateral inter-ministerial work must be stepped up”.The Foreign Ministry is marking the 40th anniversary of Mozambican diplomacy with celebrations lasting for the next six months under the theme “Mozambique in the Concert of Nations: 40 Years of Friendship, Solidarity and Cooperation”.