Sonke Gender Justice condemns in the strongest possible terms the violent incident of racial abuse by six white men against Jacob Sono and his wife, Dudu which occurred at a KFC drive-through in Montana, Tshwane on Wednesday 2 August.
As we continue to deal with the aftermath of the violent incident at the Texamo Spur1 in March this year, when Nico Viljoen aggressively accosted Lebohang Mabuya in front of her children, we are once more confronted by an incident laced with racism, violence and toxic masculinities.
After Jacob asked the men to move forward in the drive-through queue, he and his wife were viciously attacked by the men, one of whom was brandishing a gun. The assault was filmed by Dudu and footage posted to social media on Friday, causing outrage.
According to news reports, two men fled the scene, while four were arrested on Wednesday and charged with assault and possession of firearms. Two of these men have assault charges pending against them, while one has been found guilty of assault. Three of the men arrested gave police false addresses and were denied bail on Friday when they appeared in court.
Sonke commends the swift action of the police in arresting a number of the perpetrators. We call for the two remaining suspects who are still at large, to be apprehended. All must face the full force of the law.
“This incident points, again, to the very serious challenges confronting our country in relation to a culture of violence, including violence against women, and deeply entrenched racism,” says Sonke’s Acting Co-Executive Director, Bafana Khumalo. “We must redouble our efforts to rid our society of racism as well as the toxic masculinities which fuel a patriarchal society. We call on the police to bring all of the attackers to justice.”
The four men will appear again in the Pretoria Magistrates Court this Friday.
FOR COMMENT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Bafana Khumalo, Acting Co-Executive Director, Sonke Gender Justice, bafana@genderjustice.org.za, 082 578 4479
- Sonke Gender Justice is part of a panel convened to review the Spur incident in order to avoid future such incidents. The panel will meet in October 2017.
