'Coffin attack' accused appear in South African court

By Hassan IsilowJOHANNESBURG (AA) - A court in South Africa has postponed a case against two white men accused of racially assaulting a black man and forcing him into a coffin.The incident, which the court heard happened earlier this month, only came to light this week after a 20-second video clip posted on YouTube sparked nationwide outrage.The footage shows a white man forcing a black man into a coffin, threatening to douse him in petrol and set him alight.Farmers Theo Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen have been charged with kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. They will remain in custody until Jan. 25 next year.The alleged victim, Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, claimed to local eNCA television outside court he was assaulted for trespassing on a farm near Komati Power Station in Mpumalanga province earlier this month.He said he was scared for his life when he saw a coffin and an empty grave.The ruling African National Congress, which held a protest outside the court, said the victim was a member of their party and they would continue to support him throughout the case.Many incidents of racism have happened this year in South Africa, showing the country has not completely moved on from its past racial segregation system, known as apartheid.In January, Penny Sparrow, a former estate agent in the country’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, was convicted after comparing black South Africans to monkeys in a Facebook post. Sparrow had accused black people of littering a Durban beach on New Year’s Day.White businessman Justin Van Vuuren followed in Sparrow’s footsteps weeks later, describing Durban beachgoers as “animals” in a Facebook post.Their comments generated condemnation countrywide with President Jacob Zuma describing their utterances as a reminder that vestiges of white supremacy and racism still existed in certain parts of South Africa.