EFF supporters protested at a Bloemfontein resort.
PHOTO: @Sentletse, Twitter
- EFF members protested at the Maselspoort Resort on the outskirts of Bloemfontein.
- They came after two black teenagers were allegedly assaulted by a group of white men at a resort pool.
- The police investigate a case of common assault.
An alleged racist attack on two black teenagers on Christmas Day by white men at the Maselspoort Resort prompted members of the EFF to descend on the Free State Resort in protest.
The members gathered at the resort on the outskirts of Bloemfontein on Monday: some swam, some sang around the pool and others played on the swings.
The EFF members said they had come to the resort to express their anger following the incident involving several white men who allegedly attacked the two teenagers.
A video of the apparently racially motivated confrontation has gone viral on social media. In the video, a white man is seen slapping a 13-year-old boy, who is then thrown back into the pool when he tries to get up.
The man then appears to try to strangle the 18-year-old.
The situation escalates when another man pulls the younger teen’s hair.
A fight then ensues with a man pushing one of the boys into the pool and apparently trying to keep his head underwater.
The video ends with a man dragging the older teen by his head into the pool.
It is alleged that the white men tried to prevent the black teenagers from using the pool at the complex.
READ | Police investigating assault after black teens attacked in alleged race confrontation at Bloem resort
In a statement, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said she noted the incident with “utter disgust.”
He said he supported Free State Prime Minister Sisi Ntombela’s instructions to MEC Makalo Mohale of the Department for Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs to deal with the matter urgently.
Sisulu said that reports of racism at tourist facilities have negatively affected the tourism sector, which is still trying to recover from losses caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
“I call on law enforcement agencies to address this matter decisively and ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted to send a powerful message that incidents of racism have no place in our democracy,” the minister said. .
Free State police spokesman Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said a case of common assault was being investigated.
