South Africa’s coffin assault duo now answering attempted murder charges

The two men who filmed themselves forcing Victor Mlotshwa into a coffin in a clip that went viral last year just found out that their 2017 is about to get a lot worse.

On Thursday morning Theo Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen were told that their charges are being upgraded to attempted murder and they’ll be on trial between June 26 and June 29.

Before Thursday the charges against the duo were kidnapping and assault, but now both men face some serious jail time if convicted.

Magistrate Lindiwe Vukeya has ruled that both Jackson and Oosthuizen will remain in custody until the June court dates and their lawyer Christo Geldenhuys has made it clear that they will plead not guilty to the new charges.

Late last year South Africans were shocked by footage of Jackson and Oosthuizen forcing Mlotshwa into a coffin, allegedly also threatening to pour petrol over him once he was inside. Both men claim all they wanted to do was teach Mlotshwa a lesson, but they’ve found very little sympathy from the populous at large, becoming yet another case of racism in a 2016 filled with racially polarising events.