Courts

Case against Maselspoort Resort racism trio postponed

The case against three white men accused of assaulting two black teenage boys at the Maselspoort Resort in Bloemfontein on Christmas Day has been postponed to February.

Maselspoort resort ‘racial’ attack

Jakobus Klaasen, Johan Nel and Stephanus van der Westhuizen on Wednesday appeared briefly in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of attempted murder, common assault and crimen injuria.

WATCH: Family’s Christmas marred by alleged racist attack in Free State resort

The trio face criminal charges for allegedly attacking the two black teens in an attempt to get them out of a swimming pool.

The video of the incident went viral online and caused outrage from many quarters of society, with many calling it a racial attack.

In December, Klaasen – who allegedly attempted to drown one of the teenagers – was released on bail of R20 000 while his co-accused were released on warnings.

Request for postponement

During the accused’s court appearance, the state requested that the matter be postponed to 28 February 2023, for further investigations.

This after the state revealed that it was still yet to get hold of the video footage of the incident.

There were also various political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who demonstrated outside court in support of the two teenagers and their family.

The father of the two boys, Brian Nakedi, called for justice for his children.

He said the boys were trying to move on from the incident and focus on their studies since the new academic year began.

“We’re glad that there are further investigations and the state is very much seized with the matter, so we are in the hands of the NPA so far,” Nakedi told eNCA outside court.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

NOW READ: ‘We don’t want racists in SA’: Ramaphosa tells Maselspoort victims not to be afraid of white people