Johannesburg - Free State police have located a woman who was seen in a video captured about two years ago being racially abused.
Free State police reported that they had successfully located the elderly woman who was captured on video which created shock waves on social media last week. The video shows an elderly woman being racially abused and assaulted by a white male who had threatened to cut her fingers.
It is not known what brought the situation on, but South Africans, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, reacted with fury over the incident. However, it seems that the incident happened in 2020 and not last week.
Police spokesperson Captain Loraine Earl said that, according to their investigations, the video was captured in November 2020, but they did not find the victim until last Thursday.
The Star is informed that the perpetrator is an advocate by profession and works as a liquidator. He is said to live in Faerie Glen, Pretoria. The Star is in contact with the police concerning a possible arrest.
The video surfaced on social media this past week after being shared by EFF leader Julius Malema, and civil rights group Action Society's Ian Cameron reacted strongly.
In the video, the elderly woman can be seen crying while being racially abused.
At one point, she is seen being covered with what appears to be a jersey by her attacker as she shrieks in fear.
"They are now busy with consultation with her and her family to see if she wants to open a case; otherwise, we will take direction from the director of public prosecutions (DPP) if she doesn’t want to open a case," Earl said.
Provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Baile Motswenyane had instructed the detectives to trace the victim and investigate the matter further after they saw the clip online.
"We don’t have a case reported by the victim with regard to this video, but abuse and torture of women in this manner is deemed very serious and can’t be left unattended," said Motswenyane.
The woman is believed to be Antjie Bochedi, who works at one of the farms, with Cameron saying the woman does not deserve to be humiliated for the sins of her alleged son, who is reported to be serving jail time for a farm-related murder.
"She is not her son. She still works at the farm and was not complicit in the horrific murders."
"Testifying does not mean protecting murders. Whether race-motivated or not, what he does in the video is wrong. The Hills legal representative is representing her," Cameron said on social media.
This is a developing story.
The Star