The Economic Freedom Fighters marched to the Coligny police station on Friday to protest against bail granted to two men accused of murdering a teenager.
The death of 16-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu was followed by violent protests and divided the North West town along racial lines.
Protesters made it clear that there would be no reconciliation without justice for people who had been killed in Coligny.
There was tension when a white woman approached the protesters and asked where EFF leader Julius Malema was.
She was chased by protesters and then taken away from the crowd by police.
“What happened to freedom of speech?” she asked police‚ demanding they let her go. She was instructed to leave the area for her own safety.
Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte‚ who work on a local farm‚ were arrested in connection with the teenager’s murder.
The two men deny that they murdered Mosweu. They say he jumped off a bakkie as they were transporting him to the police station‚ where they had taken him after they found him stealing sunflowers.
Doorewaard and Schutte were each granted bail of R5‚000 earlier this month‚ triggering renewed anger among black Coligny residents.
In a memorandum handed to the police on Friday‚ the EFF called on police in the town to investigate cases of racism.
“Police need to stop accepting bribes from white people who are found to be on the wrong side of the law. Police must stop favouring white people and treat all people in Coligny equally‚” said EFF North West provincial chair Betty Diale.
The memorandum urged the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to challenge the bail that was granted to the two men.
The EFF appealed to residents of the town to continue to protesting until the two men were back behind bars.
“Bring forth your cases and stop talking in corners. We will make sure that we end racism in this town and we will ensure black children live better and that black people stop being scared of white people‚” said Diale.