Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Concern over rate of race-related attacks
STATE prosecutors at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court have raised concerns about race-related public attacks in their jurisdiction, as two more cases were heard this week.
This brings to 16 the number of race-related matters the court has heard in the past six months, they said. Most occurred in or near Claremont.
On Thursday, the court heard how Talana- Jo Huysamer, 23, allegedly attacked Chantlé Hoffmann, 42, in Harfield Village.
Huysamer was arrested on Wednesday after police hunted for her at several addresses following the alleged attack on January 3. She was charged with assault to do grievous bodily harm and crimen injuria.
Huysamer was released on R5 000 bail and is due back in court on February 13. She has to report to the Claremont police station every Tuesday and Thursday between 6am and 6pm.
State prosecutor Nathan Johnson told the court they would in future oppose bail for the accused in race-related matters at the court.
“These types of race cases have been prevalent. It seems to be becoming a growing problem,” he told the court.
“We will oppose bail in future as communities are becoming outraged.”
Hoffmann, in an exclusive interview with Weekend Argus, said she was “shocked” after the alleged attack. She said she was looking for parking in Harfield Village where she and friends were to meet for dinner at a restaurant.
“She ( Huysamer) came speeding down the road and stopped nose-to-nose with our car. We asked her if she could go back so we could pass because we were on a bend and couldn’t go back,” said Hoffmann.
“The first words out of her mouth were: ‘Take your piece of s**t car and f**k off to where you belong or I will Taser you’. There were two other people with her in the car. We said we couldn’t go back.
“She then pulled the Taser gun out and said: ‘Why don’t you k****rs f**k off back to Mitchells Plain where you belong.’ She was screaming.”
Hoffmann said a man who lives in the street where they wanted to park “came out of his house and asked her why she doesn’t just move back so we can park.
“The two people, a male and female, who were with her in the car also got out of the car and told her to just move. She was screaming continuously: ‘You f******g k****rs’. It was a shock to my system.”
Although the woman eventually reversed so Hoffmann could pass, Hoffman said that as she passed them, she again hurled racist abuse at her.
When they parked, the woman allegedly jumped out of her car with the Taser.
“She shouted again, ‘ Why don’t you f**k off back to where you belong... She grabbed me by the right arm and tried to Taser me in my face. She was beyond drunk. She could hardly stand.”
Hoffmann said her friend “intervened and knocked the Taser gun out of her (Huysamer’s) hand”.
“By that time, people in the bar and the guy at the house came out. The guy tried to call private security and we tried to call the police. She heard that and drove off.
“I went to the Claremont police and laid charges of assault and defamation.”
Hoffmann added: “I had bruises on my right upper arm, on my left leg and my ankle was swollen. I submitted the official doctor’s form to the police.”
Hoffmann, who works for a national government department, said she was “shocked that a person born in 1990 can have such ideas”.
Hoffmann said the incident left her shaken and disturbed.
She had read about similar attacks, but never believed it could happen to her.
She said she intended taking the case to the Equality Court, which deals with mat-
‘These types of