Three white men have been charged with attempted murder and assault after attacking two Black boys at a pool in South Africa.
In a video that went viral on social media, two Black boys were physically denied entry to a pool at the Maselspoort Resort, a place with a history of ongoing racial tension, on Christmas Day.
Since then, the video has caused an uproar online due to the severity of the violence the white men caused the two boys by attempting to strangle, slap, and dunk their heads underwater.
Additional video footage shows the trio attempting to keep the Black teens out of the pool, and as soon as they did, a separate set of white swimmers immediately left.
According to reports, the boys were stopped not because of their race but because the pool had been reserved for resort guests, which they were.
Earlier this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was “deplorable that adults dealing with teenagers resort to violence with such disturbing ease.” He said, “We must be united in ridding our society of the violence we see in the videos of the incident at the Free State resort, whether such violence comes with racism or not.”
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement that one of the accused, Jacobus Johannes Classen, appeared at a Bloemfontein court and was released on bail Thursday.
Classen is facing charges of attempted murder, assault, and crimen injuria, an offense that means inflicting humiliation through obscene or racially offensive language.
On Wednesday, the two other men, Johan Nel and Jan Stephanus van der Westhuizen, were released on a warning after being charged with assault.
OK…a bad white man unjustly assaulted innocent black teens. So, let’s start reporting all the bad blacks unjustly assaulting innocent whites. It’s called unbiased journalism.
OK…a bad white man unjustly assaulted innocent black teens. So, let’s start reporting all the bad blacks unjustly assaulting innocent whites. It’s called unbiased journalism.