Nine South African police officers charged with murdering a Mozambican taxi driver who was dragged from a police vehicle have been denied bail.

South Africa's police watchdog says the police were denied bail at the close of testimony Tuesday in Benoni Magistrate's Court, east of Johannesburg.

Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Directorate, also says the next hearing for the police is April 12.

Taxi driver Mido Macia was dragged from a police vehicle in front of onlookers, some of them filming the incident after he allegedly blocked a road with his vehicle in Daveyton township, east of Johannesburg.

Macia was later found dead in a police cell. An autopsy showed that he suffered head lacerations and other injuries.