'My son couldn't speak after coffin assault'

Victor Mlotshwa was afraid of going to the police after he was allegedly assaulted and placed inside a coffin‚ his mother testified in court on Monday.

At the time of the alleged attack in August last‚ Mlotshwa had R2‚000 on him and a list of goods she needed‚ Lonia Mlotshwa told the High Court sitting at the Middelburg Magistrate's Court.

Lonia Mlotshwa took the stand in the attempted murder trial of Willem Oosthuzen and Theo Martins Jackson and said she had sent her son to town to buy stock for her to sell on the morning of the incident.

She said her son came home at about 1.30pm with a visibly bruised eye and dirty clothes.

"I asked [him] what happened but he did not respond. He made a gesture to show that he could not talk to me. I asked him if he was sick or if there were people who robbed him but he said he could not tell me and asked to go to sleep‚" Mlotshwa told the court.

She said she bought him tablets‚ which he took and then went to sleep. When he woke up‚ he told his mother about the ordeal.

"He said he was apprehended by whites. He said he was found hiking ... He said they took him to a place where they placed him in the coffin‚" she said.

Mlotshwa said she told her son to go open a case but he said there was no evidence.

It was only after a relative saw footage on social media‚ which he showed to Victor and his mother‚ that a case was opened with the police.

She said her son was threatened by the people who had forced him into the coffin.

"He told me that he was threatened and that if he reported the matter to the police‚ they would go looking for him‚" she said.

The charges faced by the two are: attempted murder‚ two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm‚ kidnapping‚ intimidation‚ unlawful possession of a firearm and defeating the ends of justice.

The incident was captured on a cellphone. The video went viral‚ causing widespread outrage.

The video was admitted as evidence by the court.

The duo are also accused of concealing evidence by allegedly burning the coffin in October or November.

The trial continues.

- SowetanLIVE