'South Africa belongs to all who live in it,' says Ramaphosa after black teens attacked at resort swimming pool

President Cyril Ramaphosa says racism has no place in South Africa and racists must expect harsh consequences.

This follows an alleged racially motivated attack by adult males captured on camera seemingly trying to prevent black teens from using the swimming pool at a resort outside Bloemfontein on Christmas Day.

A case of common assault is under investigation and the docket will be submitted for a decision regarding prosecution.

Ramaphosa has commended the South African Police Service for opening dockets and launching investigations into the matter.

“Our constitution means exactly what it says when it declares that South Africa — and that means all of South Africa — belongs to all who live in it. As black and white South Africans, we should be united in condemning all manifestations of racism and attempts to explain or defend such crimes. Racism is not a problem to be fought by black South Africans only,” he said.

“We must defend our continuing national mission of ridding our society of the divisions and the hurts of our past.

“We must also be united in ridding our society of the violence we see in the videos of the incident at the Free State resort, whether such violence comes with racism or not.

“It is deplorable that adults dealing with teenagers resort to violence with such disturbing ease, hurting people physically and offending provisions in our Bill of Rights around security of the person, including the right to dignity and being free of violence.

“Under the rule of law, we must let investigations take their course but under the rule of law we can and must also declare that racism has no place in our society and racists have no place to hide.”

A video clip, shared on social media, captured part of the incident at Maselspoort Resort and Conference Centre, depicting white males ordering a teenager out of the water, then hitting and shoving him back in. Another child was grabbed by the throat and pulled by his hair as the fracas escalated. 

The clip was shared by a relative of one of the teens, who said they had little assistance from officials at the resort. 

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