Guernsey Press

White South Africans jailed for more than 10 years over coffin assault

Willem Oosthuizen was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and his accomplice, Theo Jackson, was given 14 years.

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Two white South Africans have been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire.

A judge in Mpumalanga province announced the sentences in a racially charged case that prompted national outrage and debate over the legacy of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

Farmer Willem Oosthuizen was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and his accomplice, Theo Jackson, was given 14 years.

Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, who was forced into a coffin, sits inside the Magistrates Court in Middelburg
Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa, who was forced into a coffin, sits inside the Magistrates Court in Middelburg (Themba Hadebe/AP)

They were convicted in August of attempted murder, kidnapping and other crimes.

A video showing the attack circulated on social media last year, showing a man cowering and moaning in a coffin as part of the lid is pushed over his head and upper body.

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