EFF supporters protested at a Bloemfontein resort.
PHOTO: @Sentletse, Twitter
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to stand up against racism following the Christmas Day incident at a Free State resort.
- A video showing white men attacking two black teenagers at a swimming pool in Bloemfontein has gone viral.
- Police are investigating a case of common assault against the men who allegedly assaulted the boys.
Following an alleged racist incident at a Free State resort, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that “racism has no place in South Africa and racists must expect harsh consequences in terms of the law”.
Ramaphosa said: “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.
“We must also be united in ridding our society of the violence we see in the videos of the incident at the Free State resort, whether such violence comes with racism or not.”
READ | EFF protests at Bloemfontein resort after alleged racial confrontation
On Monday, Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said they were investigating a case of common assault after a group of white men allegedly attacked two black teens at the Maselspoort Resort outside Bloemfontein on Christmas Day.
A video of the apparently racially-motivated confrontation has gone viral on social media.
It is alleged that the white men tried to prevent the black teens from using the swimming pool at the resort.
Ramaphosa added: “It is deplorable that adults dealing with teenagers resort to violence with such disturbing ease, hurting people physically and offending provisions in our Bill of Rights around security of the person, including the right to dignity and being free of violence.”
He said the investigations into the matter must take their course.
He said:
Under the rule of law we can and must also declare that racism has no place in our society and racists have no place to hide. We must defend our continuing national mission of ridding our society of the divisions and the hurts of our past.
News24 was unable to reach the Maselspoort Resort for comment at the time of publication.
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