South African Killings Spark Racial Furor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Protesters tried to force their way into the court hearing yesterday of a white teenager charged with a shooting rampage in a black settlement that left four people dead, including a mother and her infant. The bloodshed on January 14 in the Skielik settlement, 100 miles northwest of Johannesburg, has ignited racial tensions that remain close to the surface more than a decade after the end of South Africa’s apartheid system.
Riot police were called in to control the dozens of black protesters who gathered outside the Swartruggens District Court, trying to push through the compound gates as 18-year-old Johan Nel made a brief appearance inside. He faces charges of murder and attempted murder. The crowd waved signs saying “no bail, let him rot in jail,” the South African Press Association reported. Police pushed the group was pushed to the side of the street. Police are unclear on a motive, but Skielik’s residents allege that Mr. Nel killed out of racial hatred.
