Sheep slaughtered in anti-racism protest, after guards are accused of targeting blacks by clearing South Africa beach
- Killing of the animal was said to be a ritual to tackle racism after beachgoers were told to leave Cape Town’s popular Clifton Beach by a security firm
A race row has erupted in South Africa after a private security company allegedly ordered black revellers to vacate a fashionable Cape Town beach over the Christmas holiday.
A sheep was slaughtered on Clifton beach on Friday in a supposed ritual to tackle racism after beachgoers were told to leave the beach by guards from the PPA company last Sunday, two days before Christmas. That, in turn, prompted some people to protest against animal cruelty.
Beaches, like many public areas, were segregated under white-minority apartheid rule, and have since been a flashpoint of racial tension in South Africa.
Cape Town’s mayor dismissed claims by the security firm that it was working for the city authorities when patrolling the beach at Clifton, an upmarket coastal suburb.
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Mayor Dan Plato said the company “had no authority to ask anyone to leave Clifton beach”, but he added that “they asked people of all races to leave, and did not single out any race groups”.