A WHITE farmer “punished” a black farm labourer by stripping him and coating his body with paint for allegedly trespassing on his land in Mpumulanga, reports said on Wednesday. Moses Nkosi (21) told The Star newspaper that the farmer, apparently his former employer, accused him of trespassing last week and forced him into a farmhouse at gunpoint. The farmer and two farmworkers forced Nkosi to strip naked and apparently covered him in silver paint, used to paint fences, then forced him to lie in the sun for 30 minutes for the paint to dry. Nkosi escaped from the farm, near the town of Balfour, and reported the incident to the police before going to the hospital where nurses removed the thick paint with methylated spirits. He was discharged after two days.