South Africans get 10 years in prison for coffin assault
JOHANNESBURG -- Two white South Africans have been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire.
A judge in Mpumalanga province announced the sentences Friday in a racially charged case that prompted national outrage and debate over the legacy of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.
Willem Oosthuizen was sentenced to 11 years in prison. His accomplice, Theo Jackson, was sentenced to 14 years. They were convicted in August of attempted murder, kidnapping and other crimes.
According to the BBC, Oosthuizen and Jackson accused the victim, Victor Mlotshwa, of trespassing on their land. Part of their sentence is for attempting to stop the only witness from testifying in the case.
A video showing the attack circulated on social media last year. It shows a man cowering and moaning in a coffin as part of the lid is pushed over his head and upper body.