By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says racism has no place in South Africa and racists must expect harsh consequences in terms of the law.
This follows a video of the racially-motivated confrontation at a Free State resort that has gone viral on social media.
It is alleged that the white men tried to prevent the black teens from using the swimming pool at the resort.
Ramaphosa said the Constitution declares South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
“As black and white South Africans, we should be united in condemning all manifestations of racism and attempts to explain or defend such crimes.
“Racism is not a problem to be fought by black South Africans only.
“We must also be united in ridding our society of the violence we see in the videos of the incident at the Free State resort, whether such violence comes with racism or not.
“It is deplorable that adults dealing with teenagers resort to violence with such disturbing ease, hurting people physically and offending provisions in our Bill of Rights around security of the person, including the right to dignity and being free of violence.”
He said the investigations into the matter must take their course.
On Monday, Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said they were investigating a case of common assault after a group of white men allegedly attacked two black teens at the Maselspoort Resort outside Bloemfontein on Christmas Day.
Ramaphosa added that under the rule of law we can and must also declare that racism has no place in our society and racists have no place to hide. We must defend our continuing national mission of ridding our society of the divisions and the hurts of our past.