Following a road accident on Saturday, January 23, three men were allegedly assaulted by a group of motorcyclists in Mpumalanga.
The assault was captured on video and shared on social media.
The wife of one of the men, Tshego Ngobeni, says that her husband Melvin and his brother were travelling from Mpumalanga to Gauteng, having attended a funeral.
After a biker collided with their car, things escalated quickly.
She told TimesLIVE:
“On their way back to Gauteng, on the N4 around Machadodorp and Belfast, they were hit by a biker at the back [of the vehicle]. They got out to check on the biker.
“While they were checking on the biker, other bikers then pounced on them and started beating them up – kicking them and even beating them with helmets,” Ngobeni said.
The video contains violence and strong language, so keep that in mind before clicking the ‘play’ button:
Black people will never be free in their OWN land
This happened today on the N4 just before the shell garage in machadodrop
White men were attacking black people in their cars
My brother took the video and he was also attacked pic.twitter.com/TJtca4IkOT— Shirley Mokone (@alegetelwe) January 23, 2021
Vusi Caleb, who recorded the video, said he saw a group of bikers assaulting the two men. He was then also assaulted.
“I had seen them earlier at a Caltex garage. They were all in a good mood. I then saw them again when they were assaulting the men who were travelling in a [VW] Golf 7. The car had been hit at the back.
“As the incident was unfolding, I decided to record a video. One of the bikers came charging at me and he hit me. He damaged my car,” Caleb said.
Shirley Mokone, Caleb’s sister, who posted the tweet above, also posted pictures of the damage allegedly done to the cars:
Ngobeni’s husband was left with lacerations and swelling on his face, scratches on his elbow, and bruised knees.
Her husband and brother-in-law managed to run away and escaped in their car. The bikers followed them as they drove off.
“My husband called me and all I could hear was ‘Baby, call the police – these people want to kill us!’” she said.
“As they got to the police station, the bikers took out guns and threatened to shoot everyone. They ran over a policeman who was at the gate.
“At this point my husband got scared and he ran into the nearby bushes to hide. My brother-in-law ran into the police station.”
She says that she has been unable to sleep since the incident and that the family is considering filing a civil suit against the bikers.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig. Leonard Hlathi has confirmed that cases of two counts of assault and malicious property damage have been opened at Machadodorp Police Station.
A picture of Wheels in the Sky bikers’ club member Michael Longuiero was circulated on social media, but he says that he had nothing to do with it.
“I was not involved in this incident. I was not even there. I was at my home with my family. Yet me, my wife and my business are now being dragged into this and we are receiving death threats from random people,” he said.
The case is still under investigation, and Hlathi says that the arrest of the individuals involved is “imminent”.
The suspects could be facing an additional charge of attempted murder for driving into the police officer.
You can read more witness testimony and more from Hlathi here.
[source:timeslive]
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