Houses were set alight on Monday (May 8) as racial tensions flared in South African town of Coligny in North West province after a court granted bail to two white farmers who were accused of killing a black teenage boy.
Members of the community, including a large group of pupils, protested outside the court where suspects were granted bail of R5,000 ($370) each.
Pieter Doorewaard, 26, and Phillip Schutte, 34, are accused of killing Matlhomola Jonas Mosweu, 16, on April 20. The two farmers will return to court for trial on June 26.
Doorewaard and Schutte are accused of throwing the teenager off a moving vehicle after catching him stealing sunflowers. However, the suspects claimed they were driving him to the local police station when he allegedly jumped off their vehicle and died.
Magistrate Magaola Foso said the farmers were granted bail because the witness had not yet confirmed whether Mosweu was the teenager he saw being thrown off the vehicle.
Last month, businesses were looted and four houses, three trucks and a tractor were burnt in protests sparked by the boy’s death.
