President Cyril Ramaphosa Addresses Alleged Racist Incident in Free State, SA Says He’s Too Late

President Cyril Ramaphosa Addresses Alleged Racist Incident in Free State, SA Says He’s Too Late

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa broke his silence on the alleged Free State racist incident and condemned the incident
  • Ramaphosa called for all South Africans to condemn acts of racism and attempts to defend such crimes
  • He said citizens must be united in ridding society of violence regardless of if they are racially motivated or not

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PRETORIA - President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the alleged Free State racist incident and called for harsh legal consequences.

Cyril Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the Free State alleged racist incident. Image: Mike Hutchings
Source: Getty Images

A video of a violent clash between two black teenagers and a group of white men at the Maselspoort Resort has been doing its rounds on social media, leaving many outraged. The attack is believed to have been about the boys swimming in a ‘white only’ pool.

According to The Presidency, Ramaphosa called for all South Africans to condemn acts of racism and attempts to defend against such crimes. He said citizens must be united in ridding society of violence regardless of whether they are racially motivated.

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The Presidency also shared on Twitter:

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“Racism has no place in South Africa and racists must expect harsh consequences in terms of the law.”

Ramaphosa said it was disturbing to see how adults dealt with the teenagers with “disturbing ease”. He said the investigations into the matter must take their course and said racism has no place in the country.

Citizens reacted to the president’s remarks, with many calling him out for failing to respond faster. Here’s what some had to say:

@tinyikobaloyi said:

“We need harsher laws against racists and racism.”

@Wisdom273 commented:

“Only now, after 24 hours?”

@Josh_thembi posted:

“Yhooooo how many days later?”

@swartz_emelda wrote:

“Guilty conscious…your statement is too late.”

@Kha_li76 added:

“Warnings without action! Racists are not afraid to act out because they know nothing will happen. You’ll issue a statement and leave it there.”

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Twitter user claims teens in alleged Free State racism attack pushed 3-year-old into pool starting chaos

Briefly News reported that there seems to be more to the alleged racist attack at the Maselspoort Resort that occurred on Christmas Day.

A video has been making its rounds on social media in which two black teens could be seen being attacked by a group of white men at a poolside. The chairman of the Taxpayers Union of South Africa, Willem Petzer, claimed that there was a different version of events.

Taking to Twitter, Petzer wrote an extensive thread claiming that the boys, aged 13 and 18, allegedly pushed the three-year-old daughter of one of the men in the video into the swimming pool. The child had to be rescued by her father as she could not swim.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Bianca Lalbahadur avatar

Bianca Lalbahadur Bianca Lalbahadur is a current affairs journalist at Briefly News. With a knack for writing hard-hitting content, she is dedicated to being the eyes and ears of South Africans. As a young and vibrant journalist, Bianca is passionate about providing quality and factual stories that impact citizens. She graduated from the Independent Institute of Education in 2017 and has worked at several award-winning Caxton associated community newspapers.