South Africa: Whites stuff black man into a coffin

Two white men face assault charges after a video hit social media showing a black man being forced into a coffin.

Two white men in South Africa have been charged with assault after an online video emerged showing them pushing a black man into a coffin and threatening to burn him alive.

The pair are to appear in court on Wednesday in the northeastern town of Middelburg charged with assault and intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a court clerk said on Tuesday.

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The footage was apparently shot on a mobile phone by one of the two white men involved in the incident.

The video caused outrage on social media with hundreds of South Africans condemning the white men's behaviour under the hash tag #coffinAlive.

The 20-second clip shows one white man shoving the black man, who makes distressed noises, into the wooden coffin and trying to force down the lid.

"Do you want to speak? Come, come. We want to throw the petrol on," said one of the men, speaking Afrikaans.

They are also accused of threatening to put a snake in the coffin.

The video, which is undated, has spread rapidly across social media.

It was allegedly taken at a farm close to Middelburg town in Mpumalanga.