Jeffreys Bay surfer cleared of slinging racial insult at black surfer, magistrate deems complainant “unreliable”

“I will slaughter you and your entire family. I’ll come to your house in the middle of the night and slit your throats. You must sleep lightly; I know where you live.”

Maybe y’missed this story, maybe you didn’t, it was only lightly reported after all given its touchy touchy topic.

If you came in late, here’s what happened.

Last year, Jeffreys Bay, iconic righthander and the site of Filipe Toledo’s greatest competitive moment where the little wizard “surfed as good as any human can”, was lit up after a black surfer claimed he was told to fuck off and called what is euphemistically referred to as the K-word, a wildly offensive racial slur that has deep roots in South Africa’s apartheid history.

Rasool Hendricks, forty-nine, said him and his pal were about to hit Supertubes back in March when, they alleged, local guest house operator and J-Bay shredder Remi Petersen told ‘em to beat it and allegedly used the ol K-word.

“I struggled to understand why he wanted to keep me out of the waves,” Hendricks told the local press. “We are acquainted, he knows I surf in Jeffreys Bay all the time, and I was very surprised when he and some other surfers approached us and told us to leave. The matter escalated and an argument ensued. At one state, they tried to grab out surfboards. Then Remi (allegedly) called me a k**** and told me to fuck off and go back to the location. The whole thing was quite upsetting.”

Hendricks said he wrote a letter and thought about sending it to the Human Rights Commission. It then went up on a chat group where “other surfers of colour” were asked for their opinion.

Then, a lil twist.

“I thought the whole thing was behind us, but then I got a phone call that I needed to appear in court in Humansdorp,” says Hendricks. “When I arrived Remi was there with an attorney and an advocate and I heard he was applying for a protection order against me. He claims I threatened to slit the throats of white children and told him, ‘The night of the long knives is coming.’”

The whole thing went to court in February, Remi Petersen and Rasool Hendricks both seeking protection orders against each other under the Protection from Harassment Act.

Petersen accused Hendricks of harassment, alleging Hendricks intervened in an argument over surfing etiquette, hurling xenophobic insults and threatening to kill him and his family. Witnesses, including Matthew de Cruz and Trevor Hansen, corroborated Petersen’s claims, describing Hendricks’ threats as severe and unprovoked.

Matthew de Cruz testified, “He threatened to basically kill, cut the throats of Mr Peterson’s children. And then he said, when he is done with that he is going to kill him, he must walk lightly, he is going to cut his throat as well.”

Hendricks counter-claimed, alleging racial abuse by Petersen, but provided inconsistent accounts and no credible supporting evidence.

The magistrate, on February 21, 2025, granted Petersen’s application finding Hendricks’ threats oppressive and harmful, constituting harassment. A protection order was issued, prohibiting Hendricks from harassing Petersen or his family until 2030.

Hendricks’ counter-application was dismissed due to lack of evidence of racial abuse or intentional harassment by Petersen.

The court found Hendricks’ testimony unreliable, citing contradictions and uncorroborated claims. The ruling emphasized Hendricks’ unprovoked threats crossed into unacceptable conduct, while Petersen’s actions did not meet the harassment threshold.

Read the judgement here.