Cops oppose bail for KFC ‘racist’ attackers

A POLICE officer testifying in opposition to the bail application of three men accused of assaulting a married couple told the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court that the attackers did not only use physical attacks, but hurled verbal racial insults.

“They said she is a b****, and that she doesn’t know what she was doing. They also insulted her by her skin colour,” Constable William Tladi said yesterday.

Magistrate Motlhoki Rapulana asked Tladi to tell the court the exact words used in reference to Dudu Sono’s skin colour.

Tladi said: “They called her a swart gat (black a***).”

The incident on August 2 at a KFC in Montana, north of Pretoria, and videos of the attack have gone viral.

Tladi said Jacob Sono bled through his mouth and ears after he was attacked.

Tladi said that accused Stephen Nel arrived at the scene once the attack had already begun, and had pointed a gun at Jacob, before he joined his co-accused in beating him.

“That is why I came to oppose bail. A person could die from being beaten in the head,” said Tladi.

Nel’s lawyer, Nols Nolte, said that Tladi was not familiar with the details of the case and had just been instructed to attend court and oppose bail.

“In fairness to you, I want to put it to you that you are just doing what you have been told to do,” said Nolte.

He asked why there was no charge of crimen injuria if Dudu Sono had been insulted, as stated in the police version.

Tladi said he was not the one who wrote down the Sonos’s statements or formulated the charges.

The docket had been handed to him to investigate, he added.

The bail hearing is expected to continue next week.

Nel, 39, Joshua Scholtz, 21, and Dicky Junior van Rooyen, 21, face charges of attempted murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and pointing a firearm.

Another co-accused, Marius Harding, 23, has abandoned his bail application, while Ockert Muller, 20, has already been granted bail. All five were in court yesterday.

Warrant Officer Ravi Vengetsamy Naidoo, the commander of the detective branch at the Sinoville police station in Pretoria North, told the court that Nel, Scholtz and Van Rooyen should not be granted bail for the safety of the Sonos and their children.

Naidoo said that incidents of racially- motivated attacks were prevalent in his area of policing, and “it is usually whites on blacks or blacks on whites”.

“This is a Schedule 5 offence and there has been a public outcry over the incident,” Naidoo said.

“The video of the incident has been circulating on social media. A lot of people have expressed anger and disappointment over the incident.”

He said that “members of a political party” were protesting outside the court against the granting of bail to the accused yesterday.

Members of the ANC Women’s League picketed outside the court, while others packed into the courtroom.

Naidoo said Jacob Sono opposed bail for his alleged attackers.

“The complainant (Jacob) has indicated to me that he is scared and still in a state of shock regarding what transpired,” Naidoo said.

“He has also stated that he fears for the safety of his wife and minor kids if the accused are granted bail.

“The complainant lives in the Sinoville area and if they (the accused) are released, he will encounter them. He fears that he will be further threatened and intimidated.”

He said that staff at the KFC Montana branch, where the violent attack took place, were also scared that the accused will come and “interfere” with them if released. – ANA