Woman called an ape‚ punched in alleged racist attack at Pretoria club

20 August 2018 - 16:53 By Ernest Mabuza
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The victim claims she was attacked by a white woman in the bathroom of a club in Hatfield.
The victim claims she was attacked by a white woman in the bathroom of a club in Hatfield.
Image: 123rf/ Taras Tsurka

Police in Pretoria have assured the public and the 22-year-old female student who was assaulted in an allegedly racially-motivated attack at a club in Pretoria on Friday that it will thoroughly investigate her case.

Police are investigating a case of assault after a 22-year-old was called an ape and punched in the face in an apparent racially motivated incident at a Pretoria club.

The alleged victim‚ who is black‚ took to Twitter at the weekend saying that she had been attacked by a white woman in the bathroom of the club in Hatfield.

“Tonight I experienced my first physical racist attack. This thread gives a detailed explanation of the event because I REFUSE TO BE A F***EN STATISTIC‚” she wrote.

“While I was in the bathroom stall‚ I heard the doors of the stalls next to mine being banged on‚ and then my door got banged on‚ so I said ‘hello?’ hoping that if it was one of my friends looking for me they would recognise my voice and respond‚” she wrote.

“I wash my hands‚ and I’m looking in the mirror and I see her pointing at me while speaking to her friends. I asked her‚ ‘sis‚ you good?’. She says to me ‘No I’m not‚ you apes are taking up all our space.”

After warning the women that she would “regret it” when she was shoved‚ she said she was punched in the face. Another women intervened and helped her wipe away the tears and blood.

While confronting the alleged attacker in the passenger seat of a car‚ the driver sped away.

The tale elicited dozens of replies and offers to help trace the culprit.

TimesLIVE has reached out to the victim‚ whose Twitter handle is @MegRametse‚ but did not get a response on Monday.

In an update‚ the victim said in a tweet: “A case has been opened but I am not allowed to divulge too much information as that could work in her favour (sic). She has made attempts to get a hold of me to ‘apologise’ but… no my girl‚ apology not accepted.”

In a series of tweets‚ she also claimed that police who initially attended to her complaint at the Brooklyn police station on Friday evening were not helpful. She claimed that she was told‚ “We’ve never had an issue with white girls here.”

Brooklyn police confirmed on Monday that they were investigating a case of assault in which a 22-year-old student was allegedly attacked.

“The management of Brooklyn SAPS is concerned over the social media reports that are making the rounds where the victim alleged that she was not assisted at the station when she wanted to open a case.

“Police officers handed her a medical examination form on Friday evening and the case was opened on Saturday after she consulted a doctor‚” said Brooklyn police spokesperson Colette Weilbach. She said police officers were not allowed to turn away complainants who wanted to open cases.

“The victim is invited to lay a formal complaint against the police if she feels that she was treated unfairly. The allegations and the circumstances will be investigated internally by an officer.”

Weilbach said disciplinary steps would be taken against members if they were found guilty of misconduct.

She said cases where women‚ children and vulnerable people were victims of crime were treated as a priority and assured the victim that her case would be investigated thoroughly.

Weilbach said reports of assault cases were unnecessarily high at the Brooklyn Police Station.

“Often cases could have been avoided with better judgment‚ self-control and anger management. The golden rule is to walk away from any heated argument as this may turn violent.”


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