White South Africans charged in attack on Black teens

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A violent attack by a group of white men on two Black teenagers at a resort pool in South Africa on Christmas Day has sparked widespread outrage, reviving images from the ugly days of apartheid and serving as a stinging reminder of the country’s unresolved racial tensions.

Cell phone footage of the assault — which the teenagers said started when they were told the pool was for “white people only” — spread widely on social media. It showed scenes that could have been from decades ago, when apartheid-era laws restricted South Africa’s Black majority from using public facilities designated for white people.

Brian Nakedi, a former underground fighter against apartheid, said his 18-year-old son, Kgokong Nakedi, was one of the teenagers assaulted at the pool in Bloemfontein, a city about four hours south of Johannesburg. Both denied online claims that the youths had provoked the fight.

Nakedi, who witnessed the assault on his son, said: “I became incensed. We have to relive the pain through our kids.”

A video clip shows one man delivering an open-hand slap to the face of one Black teenager, another graying white man casually holding a cigarette as he tugs the hair of the other Black youth, and one of the men wrapping the taller youth in a head lock and pulling him into the pool, seemingly trying to submerge the teenager’s head underwater.

Three white men were arrested and charged: Johan Nel, 33, and Jan Stephanus van der Westhuizen, 47, appeared in court on assault charges. A third suspect, whose name was not released, was scheduled to appear in court on a charge of attempted murder. None of the suspects or their lawyers could be reached for comment.

Since the fall of apartheid nearly 30 years ago, South Africans have proudly declared their country a “rainbow nation.” But the encounter, at Maselspoort Resort and Conference Center, adds to a litany of racist episodes that have induced soul-searching and handwringing among South Africans.

Bloemfontein is the capital of Free State, a province that is a particularly hot kettle for racial violence.

After video of the violence at the pool surfaced, President Cyril Ramaphosa released a statement calling on Black and white South Africans to condemn racism.

“Under the rule of law, we must let investigations take their course,” he said. “But under the rule of law, we can and must also declare that racism has no place in our society and racists have no place to hide.”