Man Dies on Camps Bay Strip

Just saw this article on iol.co.za

'He fell down and died'

By Luleka Damane

A parking attendant, who died in Victoria Road in Camps Bay, was beaten by law enforcement officials, witnesses claimed.Camps Bay police spokesperson Superintendent Ian Rudman said they were still investigating the cause of death on Tuesday. However, he did not rule out the possibility that the man could have died because of a seizure."In our understanding, we believe that it was seizures or a heart attack that caused his death. We understand that his death as not of unnatural causes," he said.A witness, who works as a parking attendant in the area, said he knew the man suffered from epileptic seizures but he had been sitting and chatting with his friends outside the lifeguard's building before the drama unfolded."I was helping someone park his car and I saw the man with friends, also parking attendants, outside the lifeguard building. "They were talking and laughing," said the witness, who asked not to be named. He claims he saw a woman who cleans the toilets walking up to the parking attendants. "She called the law enforcement officials and they came and searched the waste bins near the group and found alcohol and dagga," he said.The witness alleged the law enforcement officials then beat the man, kicked him and bashed him against the wall. After they had stopped, the man had walked away unsteadily and sat down, leaning against a tree, he said. "He sat there, and then fell down and died," the man added.When the Cape Argus got to the scene, the covered body lay a few metres away from where people were enjoying themselves on the beach.Another witness said the body had been there for almost three hours.

- This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on February 25, 2009