Tshwane: The South African Police Service (SAPS) has rejected misleading social media information regarding the death in custody of a Nigerian national in the Sunnyside policing precinct in Tshwane.
According to South African Government News Agency, the SAPS expressed concern over the false information being circulated online about the incident. On June 28, 2026, SAPS Tshwane Drugs team members, acting on intelligence, arrested a Nigerian national at his apartment for possession of drugs. During his arrest, the suspect was handcuffed, and while being taken into custody, he collapsed.
The SAPS statement detailed that officers immediately called for medical assistance. Paramedics arrived at the scene and declared the suspect dead. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was promptly notified, given that the death occurred while in police custody.
The police noted that an inquest case and a case of possession of drugs were registered. The drugs found at the scene were secured as evidence in the SAPS 13 store. Both an SAPS Detective and an IPID Investigator attended the postmortem examination, and it was decided the case would be investigated by the police pending the postmortem results.
The SAPS emphasized its firm rejection of any attempts to associate this incident with anti-illegal immigrants' protests, describing such claims as baseless and misleading to the public.