Troubling video shows White men attacking Black teens at ‘Whites only’ South African pool

Authorities in South Africa have launched an investigation after a group of White men was filmed appearing to attack a group of Black teens at a swimming pool. According to TimesLIVE, the altercation, which was said to be racially motivated, happened at the Maselspoort Resort and Conference Centre on Christmas day.

A Twitter user by the name Tumii Frost also claimed the Black teens were confronted because the pool had been reserved for “White people.” In the video of the altercation, the White men are seen appearing to order a Black teenager to get out of the pool. One of the men is later seen grabbing the teen by the neck before the other minor is dragged into the pool.

“Family came to spend the day @ MASELSPOORT RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTRE in Free State. My brothers were attacked by these grown men because they are apparently not allowed in the pool as it’s reserved for the ‘white people’ here,” Tumii Frost captioned alongside the video. The footage has since been viewed more than 5 million times.

In an interview with SABC news on Monday, one of the boys’ fathers said the incident had left them traumatized, adding that one of his sons could have drowned.

“As we were relaxing, the boys came and told us that they are being prevented from using the pool by a group of white adult males. They said they were told by the men that the pool is only reserved for people who are booked here [at the resort]. We then went to the pool to intervene and told the gentlemen that we are also booked here and not day visitors. So we thought the issue was resolved but were shocked to hear that they were attacked after we left,” he said.

The Premier of Free State, Sisi Ntombela, also said she had “noted with disgust” what happened at the pool. She added that “racism and such barbaric actions have no place in our province.”

“Thus far, the incident has been identified as one element that remains a threat to the revival of the tourism sector. Therefore we urge our communities to report any incident of racism to law enforcement agencies and continue to play a role in assisting the police to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book,” Economic, small business development, tourism and environmental affairs (DESTEA) MEC Makalo Mohale said.

Police spokesperson Brig Makhele Motantsi said they responded to the scene after they received a report about an altercation. “On arrival members found the groups already dispersed and were approached by a parent of one of the victims who alleged that his two teenage boys aged 18 and 13 were assaulted by a group of white males over the use of a swimming pool,” Motantsi said. 

Authorities have since launched a common assault investigation into the incident. “The suspects who are all white males, as seen on the video circulating, were warned to appear in court on a date to be set by the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court,” Motantsi said.

But the father of one of the boys registered his displeasure with the common assault case, saying that an attempted murder investigation should have rather been opened. “One of the guys tried to drown the boy, that is attempted murder and it should have been registered as so but police told us they are only opening an assault case,” he said.