A WHITE German businessman was viciously beaten up and his top black model girlfriend brutally battered and left with a broken leg in an alleged racist attack by star rugby players.
Film star and catwalk queen Mirriam Ngomani and husband-to-be Tobias Zehetleitner had been enjoying a night out at a casino in Pretoria, South Africa, when they were targeted.
The stunning black beauty’s agent says the group of at least five white men who attacked them are well known patrons of the glitzy casino and players from a “famous rugby club”.
The interracial couple were in the queue to cash up their winnings at the exclusive Time Square Casino at 3am when a white man flicked a lit cigarette towards stunning Mirriam.
German Mr Zehetleitner, 36, who is the Chief Executive Officer of a charity founded by his fiancé that helps poor children in townships said he was holding her hand at the time.
He said: “I went over and asked this guy what his problem was and he pointed straight at Mirriam and said “What’s wrong with you man? You are dating a baboon, a monkey”.
“Two of his white friends pulled him away but after we had cashed our winnings we had to walk past six or seven of these white guys and one called her “k****r” and “black b***h”.
“I am an ice hockey player and know how to handle myself so fronted up and asked them to explain their racist remarks and one came from behind that I didn’t see and hit me hard.
“Three jumped on me and all and were giving me a kicking on the ground and I saw Mirriam being attacked so shrugged these three off and bundled a couple of guys off of my fiancée.
“Then they all attacked me at once. I can handle three but 5 or 6 or 7 or however many it was was too much and I was beaten unconscious and when I came round they had all gone.
“Mirriam was in agony and it turns out they had broken her left leg so badly the foot was pointing away at 90 degrees and she had been slapped round the face and been kicked.
“She is in so much agony and is so many painkillers and has just had a major operation to fix her leg but the obvious fear for her as a model is will she be scarred or left with a limp.
“Mirriam is known as the Catwalk Queen for her distinctive walk and teaches it to all the beauty pageant contestants and new models. She is the Naomi Campbell of South Africa.
“But if she cannot walk properly or is badly scarred this could end her modelling career.
“I have been told but it has not been confirmed that this group of men are very well known sportsmen who are known to the management so I expect some arrests very quickly.
“Mirriam is the founder of her own charity TMT Sports Group of which I am the CEO and we reach out the youth in townships creating opportunities for them through sport.
“As an interracial couple we have never had any trouble in townships or in Cape Town or Johannesburg but in Pretoria where we both live we get vile racist abuse all the time.
“So many people see it is as wrong for a black woman and a white man to be together. How in this age can people call a black woman a baboon or a monkey or use the K-word?
“Our lawyers are on this and we have the financial clout to go after these guys and I am quite happy to ruin their careers because they had no qualms about trying to ruin Mirriam’s.
“It is just so wrong to have to put up with this sort of racial abuse” said Tobias from Munich.
Time Square Casino confirmed an attack took place at the entrance to the casino and general manager Brett Hoppe said: “Paramedics treated an injured woman at the on-site clinic”.
He said CCTV showed their first security officer on scene within 20 seconds and within a minute he had been joined by six others who intervened and rescued Mirriam and Tobias.
Mr Hoppe said: “Time Square is currently reviewing all the CCTV footage for an internal investigation and we are supporting South African Police Service in their investigation”.
Mirriam who is a celebrity model in South Africa and has her own agency K-Mile Models said: “When this white man flicked the cigarette Tobias went up to him to reprimand him.
“I was then called horrible words and then a little while later when we were leaving they called me more racist things and the next thing two of them attacked me and beat me.
“What happened was sick and disgusting and I am in so much pain and doctors have told me that my leg is broken and will take a very long time to heal maybe as much as three months.
“I am so scared and terrified that my legs have been scarred and I don’t know if I will ever be able to show them off again and do my modelling on the catwalk if there are bad scars.
“They will have to pay for this as what they did was evil and I would like them to be put in prison and never come out. Why do they do this just because we are different colours?”.
Boyfriend Tobias said they have had to put off their wedding as a result of the attack.
He said: “I have been asked not to say more until the police are ready to make arrests but these guys are rugby players from a well known rugby team so this is all very sensitive.
“I am going to sue them for what they did to get compensation for Mirriam for what she went through and my lawyers are on the case and they have picked on the wrong couple” he said.
Mirriam appeared in the Hollywood films Hotel Rwanda starring Nick Nolte and in Lord of War with Nicolas Cage and is one of the best known catwalk queens in South Africa.
Her agent Rre Moiloa said: “Mirriam is still emotional and shocked and in severe pain and prays that her racist attackers are brought to book and that justice is seen to be served.
“She and Tobias were attacked by a group of white men at a popular casino in a racial attack and the couple were insulted and humiliated by insults, name calling and racial slurs.
“The K-word was used amongst others and she was called a “filthy black woman” and the group launched a violent physical attack on the couple which resulted in serious injuries.
“The perpetrators were briefly held for questioning by police and the casino security and left to go as Mirriam and Tobias were on the way to hospital and could not lay criminal charges.
“The names and identities of the perpetrators are known to the police and to allow the police investigation to continue we have agreed not to release the identities of the racists for now.
“The perpetrators are known to the casino and are rugby players from a well known rugby club. When Mirriam is well enough to talk there will be a press conference with her.
“Mr Zehetleitner and Ms Ngomani being a mixed race couple are traumatised and shocked by this criminal and racist act and appalled it can happen in present day South Africa” he said.
A South African Police Service spokesman confirmed the attack on Thursday last week and that they are investigating and said they would be no comment until arrests were made.
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