Prominent Eastern Cape football boss Rodney Mashaya, who owns the East London-based ABC Motsepe League side FC Buffalo, has reported to police that his neighbours in a smart Cove Rock suburban estate allegedly hurled racial insults and assaulted him at the weekend.
“Mash”, as Mashaya is affectionately known in football circles, claims that his white neighbours in the affluent gated community of Cove Rock Country Estate, also called him the “K”-word during a verbal confrontation in the coastal suburb, and allegedly told him that he was not welcome to stay in that neighbourhood.
Police spokeswoman Warrant-Officer Hazel Mqala confirmed that a case of crimen injuria was being investigated by police.
The estate’s security relations officer Tim Pautz yesterday confirmed the Friday incident, saying the centre management “was addressing the situation”.
Estate manager Tony White yesterday said they met on Monday evening with the alleged culprits over the incident which took place in their pub, hours after they had allegedly assaulted Mashaya.
He said the estate management has decided to “ban” one of the implicated men, who does not stay there, from the estate.
“Those who stay in the estate, we also banned them from entering our club, while we took them off our biometrics authentication system for a period of three months.
“This means that they will not be able to use their fingerprints to gain access to the estate, but will instead use the visitor’s gate where they will be required to sign every time they enter the premises,” said White.
He said that for their alleged racial abuse and assault of Mashaya, “we decided to leave that one to law enforcement agencies as the matter has already been reported to police”.
According to Mashaya, his ordeal on Friday morning started while he was driving nearby the estate with his 14-year-old daughter and mother who had visited from Zimbabwe.
He said when he got inside the estate and was driving towards his home behind a North West-registered bakkie, the bakkie suddenly stopped in front of him and the driver insulted him, accusing him of reckless driving.
“When he stopped in front of me, two other vehicles travelling with him – with three occupants – also stopped behind me.
“They hurled insults at me in the presence of my daughter and mother, saying I was driving ‘sh*t’. They called me a k****r and told me that I did not deserve to stay in that community and that I belonged in a homeland,” related Mashaya.
Mashaya, who is also a civil engineering consultant, said he was just a few metres from the gate to his estate and when two security guards tried to come to his rescue, they were also allegedly racially insulted.
“One of them wanted to punch me and when the security guards tried to prevent him, his friend wrestled me and pushed me to the ground, while racially motivated insults were again hurled at me and the security guards.
“I have been in South Africa since the early ’90s, long before the 1994 democratic elections, but I have never experienced such racism and hate, more especially in front of my daughter and mother who are still traumatised as we speak,” he told the Dispatch.
Mashaya said his children were too scared to go play outside, while his 79-year old mother has demanded to be taken back to Zimbabwe, saying she had never experienced first-hand such racial hatred in her entire life.
Numerous attempts to reach one of the four implicated men, whose names are known to the Dispatch, proved fruitless at the time of writing. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
Race abuse storm hits Cove Rock estate
“Mash”, as Mashaya is affectionately known in football circles, claims that his white neighbours in the affluent gated community of Cove Rock Country Estate, also called him the “K”-word during a verbal confrontation in the coastal suburb, and allegedly told him that he was not welcome to stay in that neighbourhood.
Police spokeswoman Warrant-Officer Hazel Mqala confirmed that a case of crimen injuria was being investigated by police.
The estate’s security relations officer Tim Pautz yesterday confirmed the Friday incident, saying the centre management “was addressing the situation”.
Estate manager Tony White yesterday said they met on Monday evening with the alleged culprits over the incident which took place in their pub, hours after they had allegedly assaulted Mashaya.
He said the estate management has decided to “ban” one of the implicated men, who does not stay there, from the estate.
“Those who stay in the estate, we also banned them from entering our club, while we took them off our biometrics authentication system for a period of three months.
“This means that they will not be able to use their fingerprints to gain access to the estate, but will instead use the visitor’s gate where they will be required to sign every time they enter the premises,” said White.
He said that for their alleged racial abuse and assault of Mashaya, “we decided to leave that one to law enforcement agencies as the matter has already been reported to police”.
According to Mashaya, his ordeal on Friday morning started while he was driving nearby the estate with his 14-year-old daughter and mother who had visited from Zimbabwe.
He said when he got inside the estate and was driving towards his home behind a North West-registered bakkie, the bakkie suddenly stopped in front of him and the driver insulted him, accusing him of reckless driving.
“When he stopped in front of me, two other vehicles travelling with him – with three occupants – also stopped behind me.
“They hurled insults at me in the presence of my daughter and mother, saying I was driving ‘sh*t’. They called me a k****r and told me that I did not deserve to stay in that community and that I belonged in a homeland,” related Mashaya.
Mashaya, who is also a civil engineering consultant, said he was just a few metres from the gate to his estate and when two security guards tried to come to his rescue, they were also allegedly racially insulted.
“One of them wanted to punch me and when the security guards tried to prevent him, his friend wrestled me and pushed me to the ground, while racially motivated insults were again hurled at me and the security guards.
“I have been in South Africa since the early ’90s, long before the 1994 democratic elections, but I have never experienced such racism and hate, more especially in front of my daughter and mother who are still traumatised as we speak,” he told the Dispatch.
Mashaya said his children were too scared to go play outside, while his 79-year old mother has demanded to be taken back to Zimbabwe, saying she had never experienced first-hand such racial hatred in her entire life.
Numerous attempts to reach one of the four implicated men, whose names are known to the Dispatch, proved fruitless at the time of writing. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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