WATCH: Fight that led to ‘racist’ Middelburg murder caught on CCTV
Workers in the Mpumalanga town say the kind of incident that led to the brutal murder of Xolisile Ndzongana is not an isolated one.
Xolisile Ndzongana was brutally murdered in Middelburg. Picture: Facebook.
Racial tension in the Mpumalanga town of Middelburg is rife following the alleged brutal assault and killing of Xolisile Ndzongana by a group of white men, The Sowetan has reported.
Ndzongana was assaulted early in the morning on July 8, later dying in hospital. He was buried in Mthatha over the weekend.
CCTV footage shows the attackers repeatedly kicking and beating the victim.
One of two friends with Ndzongana at the time of the incident told TimesLive the group of men were blocking the road, and when they were asked to move, they attacked them. The group also reportedly called the men the k-word.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi confirmed that a murder case had been opened.
READ MORE: Coffin assault duo loses SCA bail bid
He also said that three men had appeared before the Middelburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday last week and had the charges against them provisionally withdrawn. The reason for this was not made clear.
A group of petrol attendants working in Middelburg told The Sowetan that the attack did not come as a surprise considering the racism they were subjected to daily in the town.
“They call us all sorts of names,” a petrol attendant said.
Another attendant added: “This is Middelburg, racism lives here. Even when we report [incidents] to our managers, they tell us that the customer is always right, so what must we do?”
A third attendant said that racist incidents increased on weekends due to drunkenness.
“They call us monkeys and then act as though they are playing with you. What hurts the most is the vulgar language, and I do not understand it. A week will not go by where you do not go home feeling useless because of the way someone spoke to you.”
Middelburg was also where the infamous coffin assault took place in 2016. Farmers Theo Jackson and Willem Oostehuizen were sentenced to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and assault after forcing Victor Mlotshwa into a coffin.
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