[imagesource: YouTube / EWN]

A video of a racist altercation at a Bloemfontein resort went viral on Christmas Day.

It showed a few white men allegedly telling some black kids swimming in the pool that the area was for whites only, only for one cigarette-biting white oke to grab one of the black kids by the neck and attempt to strangle him.

The attack, which took place at the Maselspoort Resort & Conference Centre outside Bloemfontein in the Free State, has caused outrage across the country.

South African Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu condemned the incident, saying that it “has tarnished tourism in the country”, reported TimesLIVE.

On Saturday, Sisulu met with the Nakedi family (the two sons were the victims of the unfortunate scene) to apologise on behalf of the government:

“I am sorry that during our leadership your family experienced such discrimination. We apologise that we as the government couldn’t protect you from such people,” she said.

…Sisulu expressed her disappointment at how the resort had, until now, not  condemned the “bullish” and racist behaviour of its patrons.

Watch the video of the incident below:

Family came to spend the day @ MASELSPOORT RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTRE in Free State. My brothers were attacked by these grown men because they are apparently not allowed in the pool as it’s reserved for the “white people” here.

The Oranje-Vrystraat we love

Merry Christmas pic.twitter.com/ac4UPZ05ey

— TWIN FLME (@Tumii_Frost) December 25, 2022

Nakedi said this was the second time that they were confrontation with racism at the resort:

“In 2017 we experienced a similar incident, but my children were too young to fight back then. We kept it to ourselves. When it happened again, my sons were much older and stood up for themselves,” he said.

Sisulu is calling on all factions of tourism to be deracialised, per EWN:

The national tourism agency said that racism and racial profiling, whether by a patron or an establishment, is unacceptable.

They added that tourism was about “authenticity, sustainability and inclusivity”, and that “racism [was] an antithesis to this”.

It should go a lot deeper than tourism, though, but okay.

Anyway, justice was served per EWN:

Three people were arrested for the attack, including Johan Nel and Jan van der Westhuizen, who both face charges of common assault. The other man, Kobus Klaassen, faces an additional charge of attempted murder – a schedule five offence.

TimesLIVE names Jacobus Claasen, 48, who faces charges of attempted murder, assault and crimen injuria. He was released on bail of R20 000 at the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court.

The other two okes were released on a warning.

All three are expected to appear in court again later this month.

[source:timeslive&ewn&ewn]