Man on KFC race attack rap ‘beaten up in prison’

One of the five Pretoria men accused of assaulting a black couple, Jacob Sono and his wife Dudu, at a KFC drive-through told the High Court in Pretoria yesterday he was being assaulted and robbed in Kgosi Mampuru prison.

Marius Harding, 23, is the only accused who has not been released on bail. His legal representative, Nols Nolte, told Magistrate Thabo Ramahanelo that his client has been assaulted and some of his belongings had been stolen in prison.

“He has tried reporting the matter, but they don’t want to assist him with anything. He wants to be moved to a single cell,” said Nolte.

Nolte told the court he was making bail application arrangements for Harding. Harding abandoned his bail application at an earlier stage.

Ockert Muller, 20, was granted bail by police soon after the incident and Magistrate Motlhoki Rapulana extended his R5 000 bail. Rapulana denied bail for Dicky Junior van Rooyen and Joshua Scholtz, both 21, and 39-yearold Stephen Nel, citing the seriousness of the charges they face and the public outcry that followed the attack at the KFC in Pretoria North on August 2. In October, Rapulana’s decision on August 30 to deny their bail applications was overturned by Acting Judge Andre Petersen in the High Court in Pretoria. He granted bail of R5 000 each to Van Rooyen, Nel and Scholtz.

The five are facing charges of attempted murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and pointing a firearm.

The case was postponed to November 27.

During the bail application phase, two police officers testified the men had acted with common purpose and the attack was racially motivated. It was captured on cellphone video and the clip went viral on social media. – ANA

The attack was racially motivated.