Dumisane Lubisi
Human rights researchers are appalled at a spate of what appear to be racially motivated killings in Mpumalanga.
In February three black men were shot execution-style on rural back roads, another was beaten to death in a suburban street and a third narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in a mine hostel.
“These cases are clear indications of racism, and such incidents are not acceptable,” said South African Human Rights Commission commissioner Charlotte McClain.
“They have no place in this country.”
Bronwyn Harris, researcher at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, was equally appalled by the incidents, but more cautious in condemning them.
“Factors to consider are the role of alcohol and the role of social institutions in transmitting racist attitudes,” she said. She is currently working on a project researching racial violence and hate crimes.
The roadside killings of Paul Mah-langu (30), Philemon Phoko (35), and Geelboy Ntuli (40) were the most obviously racist, she said. “The [alleged] perpetrators didn’t know the victims and seemed to have targeted them purely because of their blackness.”
Mahlangu, Phoko and Ntuli, were shot in the head at point blank range with a .22 rifle during the early hours of February 21.
Two young white men, Herman Scheepers (20) and Joshua Moolman (25) are in custody after appearing in the Middelburg magistrate’s court this week, charged with murder. They have not been asked to plead. Moolman was sent to Weskoppies this week for observation.
In the second case, two white teenagers were arrested after a black pedestrian in an Evander suburb was beaten to death on February 22. Residents who heard his screams for help said they were too afraid to intervene, but at least called the police. Residents told police that two young women were also on the scene, watching the attack.
The pedestrian was still alive when police arrived but died less than 24 hours later in hospital without regaining consciousness. His family doesn’t know he’s dead, because police have been unable to identify him.
Jaco Kraftt and Gert Operman, both 18, were charged in the Evander magistrate’s court with the murder and released on R2 000 bail each. They have been ordered not to intimidate, speak to, or otherwise interfere with state witnesses, and will appear in court again on March 20.
Harris said it was trickier to associate the stabbing of Stephen Lebakeng at Harmony Mine near Evander with racism. Two-thirds of a butcher’s knife was plunged into his back while he was showering at the mine hostel on February 10, hours after being sprayed with foam from a fire extinguisher during a brawl between black and white mine employees.
His alleged attacker, Eugene van Vuuren (28), has been charged with attempted murder and has been granted R300 bail pending resumption of the case on March 8.
McClain and Harris have undertaken to monitor court proceedings in all three cases. African Eye News Service