Cele Wants White Men Under Investigation for Attempted Murder in Alleged Racist Bloem Incident Prosecuted

Cele Wants White Men Under Investigation for Attempted Murder in Alleged Racist Bloem Incident Prosecuted

  • Police Minister Bheki Cele wants the three white men who assaulted two black teens brought to justice
  • The boys were choked and drowned for swimming in a pool that the men allegedly claimed was reserved exclusively for white people
  • A relative close to the teens said that the boys were traumatised by the incident and would receive counselling

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JOHANNESBURG – Police Minister Bheki Cele has called for the prosecution of the three white men who assaulted two black teenagers in an alleged racist incident at the Maselspoort Resort in Bloemfontein.

Police Minister Bheki Cele
Police Minister Bheki Cele called for the swift prosecution of the men involved in the Maselspoort Resort racist incident. Image: Darren Stewart/Getty Images & @Tumii_Frost/Twitter
Source: UGC

South African Police Services in the Free State have confirmed that the three men were initially being investigated for common assault, but the charge has been ramped up to attempted murder. No arrests have been made at this stage.

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According to EWN, Cele vowed that the assault on the teens would be dealt with swiftly and police are actively looking for the men involved.

Cele revealed:

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"Those guys have left the lodge and we are hunting them there.”

The video of the assault spread like wildfire on social media and shows a group of white men choking and attempting to drown the teens for swimming in a pool they claimed was reserved for "whites only".

Meanwhile, Brian Nakedi, the father of one of the boys told City Press that the boys were traumatised by the assault and continuously seeing the video online is making it hard for them to come to terms with the incident.

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Nakedi, who is also an uncle to the other boy assaulted, said that the family were working on getting the teens counselling to deal with the trauma they are experiencing.

The 58-year-old relative added that the family enlisted the services of well-known lawyer Zola Majavu who will be handling the case.

South Africans react to Cele's calls for a swift prosecution

South Africans took to social media to agree with Bheki Cele's calls for a speedy prosecution.

Below are some comments:

@Jungle65835635 asked:

"Are they arrested as yet?"

@Niren_ commented:

"Cele all of a sudden is alive and kicking."

@Creamyyurri claimed:

"The law needs to protect the innocent."

@BathathuSimani claimed:

"Those guys are in big trouble."

@vusig4u suggested:

"They must be sentenced just to send a strong message regarding racism."

@WordsAlchemy agreed:

"Attempted murder for sure. He had his hands around the boy's neck and then jumps into the pool and pushes his head under the water."

Read also

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

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

In a related story, Briefly News reported that it seems that there is more to the alleged racist attack at the Maselspoort Resort that occurred on Christmas Day.

A video has been making the 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:
Lerato Mutsila avatar

Lerato Mutsila (Current affairs editor) Lerato Mutsila is a journalist with 3 years of experience. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Pearson Institute of Higher Education in 2020, majoring in broadcast journalism, political science and communication. Lerato joined the Briefly News current affairs desk in August 2022. Mutsila is also a fellow of the 2021/2022 Young African Journalists Acceleration programme, which trained African journalists in climate journalism. You can contact Lerato at lerato.mutsila@breifly.co.za