Johannesburg ( CNN ) -- A man , struggling to get away , is surrounded by South African police in the middle of a street as a large crowd looks on . The officers pull him over to a police van and handcuff his hands , over his head , to the back of the vehicle as he sits on the ground . Soon , as some in the crowd scream , the van begins to move . It slowly picks up speed . The helpless man in a red T-shirt is dragged along the road . Soon , two officers lift him up by the legs , apparently to avoid dragging -- but the police van seems to speed up , and the man 's legs fall to the ground , He is dragged hundreds of feet . South Africa shocked by police shootings at mine . Though injured , the man was never taken to a hospital , police investigators say . He died a few hours after the incident . The suspected cause of death : head wounds . The video , captured by someone in the crowd in Daveyton , near Johannesburg , has sparked fury over police brutality in the country . `` We are shocked by this incident , '' said Moses Dlamini , a spokesman for the Police Investigative Directorate , an independent government agency that looks into possible crimes by police . But such a scene may not be all that rare . The directorate received more than 6,000 complaints accusing police of numerous crimes , including murder and torture , during a one-year period from early 2011 to early 2012 . The cases include 648 deaths . The U.S. State Department 's human rights report on South Africa for 2011 , the latest year available , said the country 's `` principal human rights problems included police use of lethal and excessive force , including torture , against suspects and detainees , which resulted in deaths and injuries ; vigilante and mob violence ; and prison overcrowding and abuse of prisoners , including beatings and rape by prison guards . '' But Dlamini was quick to emphasize that in the nation of 50 million people , police who carry out crimes do not reflect the police service as a whole . `` There are many other officers who are dedicated , who uphold the law and arrest criminals all the time , '' he said . While authorities have not confirmed the man 's identity , local reports say he was a taxi driver from Mozambique . The man and the police in the video , as well as those in the crowd , are black , so there is no suggestion that the incident is a sign of white vs. black tensions in the country . `` This appalling incident involving excessive force is the latest in an increasingly disturbing pattern of brutal police conduct in South Africa , '' said Noel Kututwa , Amnesty International 's southern Africa director . Johan Burger , a senior researcher with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria , said some police officers think they `` are above the law '' and that there wo n't be consequences for their actions . South Africa 's history of violence `` is part and parcel of daily life , '' he said . Some think `` the best way to deal with this is to act in a brutal way . '' CNN 's Nkepile Mabuse reported from Johannesburg ; CNN 's Josh Levs reported from Atlanta .
It shows a man handcuffed to a police van and dragged . Investigators said he died hours later , apparently from gunshot wounds . South Africa had more than 100 complaints of police crimes in a recent time period . The country 's history of violence worries some police , an analyst said .