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Two #CoffinAssault Men in Court in South Africa

The two men who appeared in the shocking #CoffinAssault video, attempting to push another man into a coffin, are to appear in court on Wednesday in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa. UPDATE: Please see update at bottom of article. The 20-second video – with the men threatening to throw a snake into the coffin and burn him […]

By SAPeople
16-11-16 11:32
in Eish!

The two men who appeared in the shocking #CoffinAssault video, attempting to push another man into a coffin, are to appear in court on Wednesday in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa. UPDATE: Please see update at bottom of article.

The coffin video went viral
The South African coffin video was reported around the world

The 20-second video – with the men threatening to throw a snake into the coffin and burn him alive – left many thinking it was a set-up, filmed deliberately to stir racial conflict in South Africa.

The video, in which you can hear the white man seen in the video speaking in Afrikaans and Zulu, first surfaced in Zimbabwe before going viral in South Africa and around the world a week later (around 5 November 2016). There’s no date on the video. It was apparently filmed on a farm near Middelburg.

The man in the coffin was allegedly being ‘punished’ for a crime. He can be seen and heard screaming in the video as the coffin lid is forced onto him. The footage appears to have been filmed on a mobile phone.

Two white men are subsequently facing assault charges with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, according to reports.

Julius Malema, Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader, shared the coffin video on Twitter. The video went viral around the world causing outrage by both those in South Africa and outside, using the hashtag #CoffinAlive.

The EFF said it would rally outside the court today to protest against the alleged assault and against racism.

In a statement Monday, the EFF said: “The EFF leadership will attend the court case (Case number 19/11/2016) of the two white men by the names of Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, who beat up a black man, Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, and put him in a coffin.

“These white racists then took a video and put it up on social media for amusement after humiliating Mr. Mlotshwa. This humiliation can be based on nothing else but his blackness, which means it is in actual fact a humiliation of black people as a whole.

“The incident took place at JM De Beer Boerdery next to Komati Power Station. They are charged with kidnapping and assault with intend of grievous bodily harm…”

UPDATE: According to the Middelburg Observer, the employers of the two white men have condemned the incident. They were out of the country at the time and said the men received no instructions from them to do what they did. The owners were unaware of the video and the incident until the arrest of their workers on Monday, 14 November 2016.

UPDATE 11h15, Wed 16 November 2016: The court hearing has been set for 25 January 2017. The two suspects will remain in custody until then, with no bail granted. The Democratic Alliance said: “Justice must be served on 25 January. We will all unite in condemning appalling incidents like this.”

https://twitter.com/AmBlujay/status/794510219330125825