A BOY was beaten by bystanders on Goodwill Day after he insulted two blind Zimbabwean "artists" on the train between Cape Town and Kraaifontein.

The beggars got on the train armed with a guitar and a cup, and introduced themselves as Joseph Sephine and Ngamla Mpinza from Zimbabwe.

They played well and people gave them money. One passenger spoiled the fun by insulting them.

He said: "You are doing a sketch (play acting). You can both see. You lazy bastards. Go back to Zim and tell Mugabe to give you work. You are not getting my geld," he shouted.

"People gave you money. How did you manage to see it if you claim to be blind. Hey, makwerekwere, leave us alone. I don't buy your story."

Both men appeared blind and wore heavy sunglasses.

A visibly furious Michael Dongo from the Congo, told the boy: "Can't you see that these people are disabled. What have these people done to you to deserve this."

Punches started to fly. Other passengers joined in. The boy was pinned down and beaten badly until a woman screamed and the beating stopped.

Nopinki Sekeni said the boy deserved the beating.

"These people are old enough to be his parents and they did not do anything wrong to him to deserve such treatment," she said.

"For God's sake, can't he see that these people are really blind? It proves that this boy has no manners. Thank God we taught him a lesson."

Fumanekile Makeleni said: "We won't allow any person to be insulted by thugs because he is a foreigner. All of us are one race, which is the human race. So we will not allow anyone to violate our human rights, irrespective of where one comes from.

"This trend of using bad language to foreigners is common in South Africa. The government must make it a crime to call someone a kwerekwere. It's like calling a black South African a k*****, a coloured, Malawi or an Indian a coolie. I do not think this boy will ever insult a foreigner again after what we did to him," he said.