Case of Maselspoort resort swimming pool trio postponed

The case of the trio arrested for an alleged racist attack in Maselspoort on Christmas Day in 2022 has been postponed to April 26 for transfer to the regional court.

On Tuesday Kobus Klaassen and his co-accused Johan Nel, 47, from Brandfort and Johannes Stephanus van der Westhuizen, 33, from Bothaville appeared at the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court.

This is in connection with the confrontation with two teenagers at the Maselspoort Resort and Conference Centre near Bloemfontein in December 2022.

A video clip shared on social media captured part of the incident at the resort. It depicted the men ordering a black teenager out of the water, then hitting or shoving him back in, grabbing a child by the throat and pulling his hair as the fracas escalated.

One man was also seen holding a youngster under the water.

Nel and Van der Westhuizen face charges of common assault and crimen injuria and were released on a warning.

Klaassen faces a charge of attempted murder and is on bail of R20,000.

His bail was not opposed by the state as he had no pending cases or previous convictions, had a fixed address in Bloemfontein and was not considered a flight risk.

The initial case opened by the family of the two boys, aged 13 and 18, against the men was for assault and crimen injuria. 

After the incident, police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele said the docket was handed to the senior state prosecutor, who issued a directive that a charge of attempted murder could be added to the investigation “given the additional facts” that had been obtained.

TimesLIVE