State maintains KFC attack was racially motivated
Pretoria - In opposing bail for three of the white men who allegedly assaulted a black couple at a KFC drive-through in Montana, Pretoria, the state maintained that the attack was racially motivated.
Stephan Nel, 39, Joshua Schultz, 21 and DJ van Rooyen, 21 were applying for bail at the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court on Friday.
"There was a first group attacking Mr and Mrs Sono, another group came to join. [The] first and second group are from the same race and claim not to know each other," said state prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda during his heads of argument.
"So what can make people of the same race then attack someone of another race if it's not a hate crime or race related?
"Why didn't the second group not call the police or break up the fight?"
Charges
Nel, Schultz and Van Rooyen, along with Ockert Muller, 20 and Marius Harding, 23, have been charged with attempted murder, assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and pointing of a firearm.
Muller has since been released on bail while Harding has abandoned his bail bid.
Last week, the court heard that no allegations relating to racism and crimen injuria were listed on the charge sheet.
During the cross examination of Warrant Officer Ravi Naidoo, a group commander at Sinoville detective unit, to whom investigating officer Constable William Tladi reports, Naidoo conceded that there was no evidence that suggested the assault was racially motivated.
In his evidence in chief, Naidoo said that racial incidents were prevalent in the Sinoville area. He also said that cases of attempted murder and assault involving different races were taken more seriously than those involving the same race.
Tladi, however, testified that Sono's wife was insulted based on her race.
"They called her a bitch, they also insulted her on her skin colour," he said.
Tladi said they had called her a "swart gat [black arse]".
Revelation
These allegations were not in his affidavit that was read into record before he took the stand.
Harding, who was not present in court, has been taken to KwaZulu-Natal to answer for a charge of theft, the court heard.
News24 has previously revealed that Harding was arrested in 2014 on charges of assault and crimen injuria for allegedly assaulting three petrol pump attendants - using racial slurs at a garage in Petrus Steyn Free State.
Harding's father, Hermanus Nicholas Harding said there was no warrant pending in terms of the case in Petrus Steyn.
Judgment in the bail application will be delivered on August 30.
