Two men who were arrested for allegedly beating a 27-year-old Muslim man to death in Magaliesburg last Sunday, are due to appear in court on Monday. The attack led to the death of Mohamed Fayaaz Kazi at 5am on Monday of a subdural haematoma and was laid to rest on Tuesday. The first man was arrested on Saturday evening in Hartebeespoort in the North West province and the second man subsequently handed himself over to police on Sunday morning and was accompanied by his lawyer.

Kazi, from Ventersdorp and a relative, Anser Mahmood, were attacked outside a Chicken Licken outlet, by two white Afrikaans-speaking men. On Saturday evening social media reported the first arrest, which was confirmed by police on Sunday morning.

Mahmood said the two men made fun of Kazi's beard and insulted them. It was then when Kazi, who understood Afrikaans, confronted the two and a fight broke out. Both Kazi and Mahmood were attacked, where after the two white men fled the scene in a white Tata sedan. Kazi died in Potchefstroom Hospital on Monday. Media reports on Sunday related that Trevor Buthelezi, a waiter at the local restaurant said a large, white man of over 100kg kicked and hit Kazi and Mahmood for about 20 minutes.

According to Buanews, the pair were kicked out of the outlet and attacked on the street by a third person who hit Mahmood. Police arrived at the scene and directed the two men to the Magaliesburg police station, where they planned to lay charges. Kazi then said he wanted to go home. His condition reportedly deteriorated along the way, and he was treated in Ventersdorp and Potchefstroom before being transferred to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, where he was classified as brain dead on arrival. He was transferred back to Potchefstroom, where he died at 5am the next day.

The killing resulted in an outpouring of condolences, outrage, and calls for the alleged killers to be arrested swiftly on what many had regarded as a hate crime. North West premier Thandi Modise congratulated police for the arrests. “We commend our police for the speedy arrest and look up to our courts for the law to take to take its course. Justice to be seen to be done for racism and religious intolerance to be nipped in the bud," Modise said.

In its response, the Media Review Network (MRN) welcomed news of the arrest. It called on all law enforcement agencies to be especially vigilant in regard to crimes related to racism, religious bigotry, xenophobia, and Islamophobia.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Darul Ihsan Media Desk