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Though we call South Africa the rainbow nation, racial prejudices continue to run rampant throughout our country, according to famed musician Zwai Bala and his family, who recently became the latest victims of an alleged racially charged attack at a boating and angling club in Cape Town.
On Sunday afternoon, the muso came forward on X and revealed in a series of X posts that his brother had been a victim of a racial attack at the boat club.
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Bala claims the incident was incited by the second-in-charge at the boat club, against whom they have filed a criminal charge. The case was intended to be heard in court on 18 January but has since been postponed to 7 February.
Bala said: “The incident happened on a Friday night, and the following Monday, which was 8 January, I went to file the case; it was heard on 18 January. however, the media filed a request to allow coverage of the court proceedings, and this is why it was postponed.”
Commenting on his mental wellbeing since the incident, he said:
While the rest of the country only learnt of the incident through social media posts made by Bala on Sunday, 21 January, Bala has been hoping for justice to prevail for a while. This can be seen in his pleas with netizens, through his X thread, to stand against racial injustice.
In his X thread, he said:
The scuffle came to us sitting at Bertie's Moorings Restaurant which is owned by a friend to the racists. It is clear that this is the character of the establishment. We were a table of 8 & had paid our bill plus a generous tip as would be the expectation from any other race..
— Zwai Bala (@ZwaiBala) January 21, 2024
But walking around taking photos is for whites only it seems. I will ensure the establishments are not off the hook either
— Zwai Bala (@ZwaiBala) January 21, 2024
In an interview with Briefly, Bala also added that he also narrowly escaped a fist from the man behind the attack.
Though he called on South Africa to take a stand against rampant racism in a post that implied he would be orchestrating a march on 7 February at the magistrates' court, social media users were quick to suggest that the only people who could help were the EFF.
He then received backlash after social media users pulled up an X post of his from 2017 in support of Zuma and the ANC, highlighting that he was on his own since he was in support of the political party.
Thanks for nothing Doos pic.twitter.com/EUXLIaoiZJ
— Kavi (@PillayKavi) January 21, 2024
we are sorry they reminded you that you are not one of them. ??? pic.twitter.com/JEPKWUgIM3
— anthu says - we need a khuphu (@AnthuBantu) January 21, 2024
“It’s very strange, but disappointing at the same time. Everyone is saying the same thing, but we are not coming up with any solutions to the issue. But again, it gives us a good sense of how we are as a society, or as groups of society. This whole thing is becoming about Zuma, but that really is beside the point.”
Despite the outrageous backlash, Bala seems to be keeping his eye on getting justice for himself and his brother.
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He encouraged South Africa to continue focusing on racial injustices and making sure we get to a place of justice for all. Doubtful of a positive outcome, Bala concluded: “I don’t know what will happen or if the government will be able to do anything at all, but really we need to bring attention to the fact that our government has not done much about the racism issue, but we hope justice will prevail.”
