White South African men charged over ‘apartheid-style’ fight with black boys in pool

President of the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa gives a black power salute at the end of the 55th National Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 2022. Photo / AP

Three white South African men have been charged with crimes including attempted murder after they allegedly attacked two black teenage brothers in a holiday resort swimming pool.

The incident, which took place on Christmas Day at the Maselspoort Resort, near Bloemfontein, sparked public outrage after it was captured on video.

Mobile phone footage reportedly taken by the boys’ sister was shared widely on social media and appears to show a white man slapping a 13-year-old boy, grabbing him by the throat, and pulling his hair.

A scuffle ensues and then two more white men fight with the black teenagers in the pool.

It’s claimed the men were trying to prevent the teenagers from swimming, saying that the pool was reserved for white people.

According to police, Johan Nel, 33, and Jan Stephanus van der Westhuizen, 47, were released on a warning and are expected to appear again in court next year.

Charged with attempted murder

“The two appeared in court on charges of assault common and crimen injuria [an action that injures the dignity of another person] and the matter was postponed to 25 January 2023 while being released on warning,” said Police Commissioner Baile Motswenyane.

Kobus Klaasen, a father of four, 48, was charged with attempted murder after he was accused of grabbing one of the boys by the neck and holding him under the water.

The incident has been widely condemned, including by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“As black and white South Africans, we should be united in condemning all manifestations of racism and attempts to explain or defend such crimes. Racism is not a problem to be fought by black South Africans only,” Ramaphosa said.

The footage sparked intense debate with people arguing on social media over what they believed it showed.

According to Phaladi Shuping, the Free State National Prosecution Authority spokesman, Klaasen handed himself over to police late on Wednesday. He successfully pleaded to be released on bail on Thursday, which was set at £1000 ($1900), and he had to surrender his passport.

Racism remains a thorny issue

Brigadier Motantsi Makhele, of the South African Police Service, said the assault charges were later upgraded to attempted murder after “further investigations”.

After news of the incident spread the garage door of Klaasen’s automotive business in Bloemfontein was vandalised, with a message reading “Racism has no place in Azania”, referring to the name for South Africa used by Azapo, a South African liberation movement and political party.

Racism remains a thorny issue in South Africa nearly 30 years after the country’s transition from white-minority apartheid rule to democracy.

During the apartheid era, black people would not have been allowed to check into this or any other similar inland holiday resort, where people hired cottages with access to luxury swimming pools and other outdoor facilities.

Members of the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters party visited the resort and demanded answers from the manager, who claimed the resort did not have a racial segregation policy.

In 2018, real estate agent Vicky Momberg was sentenced to three years in prison for shouting racial insults at a black policeman in a landmark judgment that was the first to imprison a person for a racist act.

In 2020, Adam Catzavelos, a white man, was convicted of crimen injuria and given a suspended sentence after using racist slurs in a video that circulated on social media.