Please note: this article includes additional disturbing images of facial injuries.
A gay man has been left physically and emotionally scarred after he was attacked and stabbed in the face with a broken bottle during a night out in Elandspoort, Pretoria West.
Koketso, who asked that his surname not be published, says the allegedly homophobic incident took place on 20 March this year at around 9.30pm, just two days after his birthday. “I decided to take myself out to go have a few drinks,” he tells MambaOnline.
He went to a venue about 10 minutes from his home. There, he met an acquaintance, Lerato, and later joined a group of people who decided to continue the evening at another tavern after the first venue closed.
The group walked for about eight minutes to the second location, where they bought more alcohol and joined Lerato’s friends. According to Koketso, a few minutes after they arrived, two other individuals, also joined them at the tavern.
One of these men allegedly began to target Koketso. “He kept on making homophobic comments. I wasn’t paying attention to him, and then he came to me wanting to touch my private parts. I pushed him away.”
Koketso says the individual later followed him when he went to urinate. Because his phone was in his front pocket, Koketso initially believed the man was trying to take it.
He pushed him away again but the situation only escalated. “He took off his t-shirt like someone who’s preparing to get into a fight.”
Moments later, Koketso says he was unexpectedly struck in the face with a bottle, the impact breaking it. He alleges that the attacker then stabbed him with the broken bottle.
“I tried to fight back, but I couldn’t see. My eyes were covered in blood,” he says.
Koketso says more than 10 people were present during the attack but that nobody intervened. Despite being seriously injured and unable to see properly, Koketso made his own way from the scene.
He moved to the end of the street hoping to request an Uber to the hospital but struggled to do so. “I [couldn’t] even see. I’m covered in blood,” he recounts
A man who happened to be passing by offered assistance. Koketso gave the stranger his phone and password so that he could request the ride.
“When I got to the hospital, I passed out,” he says.
Koketso only regained consciousness the following day. “I was surprised I woke up. I’m in a hospital. I can’t move my face,” he remembers.
He says the extent of his injuries became particularly difficult to process when he was finally able to look at his face. “When I saw myself in the mirror, I just broke down.”
Koketso opened a criminal case against his attacker who was arrested on 26 March but was only held for one day. The matter is scheduled to return to court on 12 October.
For Koketso, the incident has left physical scars as well as anger over what he experienced. While he will require further surgery, he feels he is starting to heal.
“Well, I’m okay. I’m still a bit angry, you know, because of this justice system. But health-wise, I’m okay,” he says.
Zaheeda Munyai, human rights advocate for the organisation Empire 101, who alerted MambaOnline to the incident, has referred Koketso’s case to the National Task Team (NTT) on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression and Sex Characteristics for monitoring.
