The wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela has attended a memorial service for a man who died in police custody after being dragged from a police vehicle in an incident that was filmed by onlookers.

Eight officers allegedly involved in the death of a man who was bound and then dragged by a police vehicle have been suspended and the local police commander has been removed from his post, South Africa’s police chief has announced.

His hands are tied to the rear of a police van while his body lies behind it, on the ground. The van speeds off, dragging the slender man along the pavement as a crowd of onlookers shouts in dismay and at least one videotapes the scene. He is later found dead in a police cell.