Middelburg - Members of the ANC, EFF and DA gathered outside the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court where two men faced assault charges for allegedly forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire.
Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, accused of shoving a black man into a coffin while threatening to kill him in a video clip, abandoned their bail application in the Middleburg Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Wednesday.
Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson are accused of shoving Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa into a coffin while threatening to kill him in a video clip. Picture: @MbuyiseniNdlozi/Twitter
The two stated that they feared for their lives and therefore would not continue with a scheduled bail application. The State had planned to oppose their bail application.
In a short video that has since gone viral on social media, the man, Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, is seen pleading for his life after being placed inside the coffin while one of his tormentors tries to close the coffin. One is heard saying “… we need to pour petrol, now sit still”.
Oosthuizen and Jackson allegedly beat up Mlotshwa for walking through a farm. They then took him to another location and then put him in a coffin and threatened to kill him.
The pair face charges of kidnapping and assault with intend of grievous bodily harm.
Magistrate Jongilizwe Dumehleli postponed the case to January 25 next year.
We appeal to our courts to show no mercy when dealing with racists & acts of racism, such as those exposed by #CoffinAssault case @zizikodwa
— MyANC (@MYANC) November 16, 2016
The accused in this matter, #CoffinAssault, dehumanised a black man, thus have no regard of a black life @zizikodwa
— MyANC (@MYANC) November 16, 2016
#CoffinCourtCase: Anti-Black Racism is rooted on the premise of Dispossession and is the arrogance of Injustice! #RacismMustFall pic.twitter.com/KYPOULjlyO
— EFF Official Account (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 16, 2016
ANA