Free State – Police have arrested the three suspects who attacked two teenage boys in an alleged racially motivated incident at a Free State resort that went viral on social media, and the family of the boys has welcomed the arrests.
The sister of the brothers who had been on the receiving end of the attack took to Twitter, posting a video of the incident and giving an explanation of what took place.
Family came to spend the day @ MASELSPOORT RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTRE in Free State. My brothers were attacked by these grown men because they are apparently not allowed in the pool as it’s reserved for the “white people” here.
The Oranje-Vrystraat we love ??
Merry Christmas pic.twitter.com/ac4UPZ05ey
— TWIN FL?ME (@Tumii_Frost) December 25, 2022
In a statement, police confirmed the arrest of the three suspects.
“After an additional charge was added, the investigating team worked around the clock to detect the suspects, we can confirm that there are three suspects arrested today,” said SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele.
Makhele said that two suspects appeared in court, and the matter was postponed
“The first two who were arrested are from Bothaville and Brandfort respectively, 33-year-old Johan Nel and 47-year-old Jan Stephanus van der Westhuizen.
“The two appeared in court on charges of assault common and Crimean Injuria and the matter was postponed to 25 January 2023 while being released on warning,” he said.
Makhele said the other suspect was due to make his court appearance on charges of attempted murder among others.
“The third suspect from Bloemdal in Bloemfontein was arrested just after 12:00 and will be charged with Attempted Murder he will remain in custody, and is expected to appear in Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 29 December 2022 on the main charge being Attempted Murder.”
ALSO READ | Racist incident at Free State resort: ‘Charge of attempted murder is possible,’ police say
Speaking to News24, one of the teenagers that were attacked, Kgokong Nakedi, said that he felt that if it were not for the presence of cameras and his parents, he “would not be alive today”.
“It all happened so quickly. That 30 seconds didn’t feel like 30 seconds,” he said.
“If my parents weren’t here, my family weren’t here, I don’t think that 30 seconds I would have come out alive.”
“If I was here alone and I didn’t call my parents, I don’t think I would’ve been alive today,” Kgokong added.
The boys’ father, Brian Nakedi said that “these are clear attempted murder charges”.
He added the senior Police officials did not agree with what he thought the suspects should be charged with.
“I said, ‘no that’s fine, let’s leave it to the due process of the law’ and we are waiting to find out exactly where the matter stands as things are.”
Meawwhile, the Free State branch of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) released a statement in which they condemned the “despicable racist act”.
The party was emphatic in stating who it believed was responsible for the incident.
“We blame Masselport management for enabling such actions by having a whites only pool that made those white racists think that’s the space for white people only.
“We are further disappointed in the failure of the management of Masselport to correctly deal with this act of racism on their facilities.”
The EFF also touted some blame on the ANC for their “lack of decisive action”.
“We believe these actions of racism are being perpetuated by the ANC due to their lack of decisive action as well as a rubber glove approach to racist conducts in the province and it comes as no surprise that days after the ANC conference that re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as President of South Africa white people feel this bold and entitled.”
Read the full statement here:
♦️Must Read♦️
EFF Free State Statement On The Racist Incident That Took Place At Masselsport Resort And Conference Centre pic.twitter.com/AsOZQbSrnr
— EFF Free State (@EFF_FreeState) December 26, 2022
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Picture: Twitter/ @Tumii_Frost
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
