A South African woman living in Luxembourg with her husband says she was assaulted and treated badly during a confrontation with a stranger at a hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg.
Mpho Boadia was visiting South Africa with her twin sons, their cousin and a friend when the incident allegedly happened at the City Lodge Hotel in Fourways. She said the family was in the country on holiday and visiting relatives.
Boadia said the experience had left her deeply distressed and questioning whether she still felt safe in her home country.
“Right now South Africa doesn’t feel like home to me. I’m ready to leave. South Africa feels like a place where I have been handed another trauma to carry … I am bruised. I am hurting. I am shaken.”
The incident allegedly began at about 11pm on Saturday, after Boadia’s sons went to Montecasino. She remained at the hotel, chatting with a Danish woman and the woman’s sister, when a man approached them.
Boadia said the man made an unwanted remark directly to her.
“He came up to me and commented right in my face, ‘I know you.’ I responded, ‘Excuse me, but you don’t know me,’ and one of the other women yelled at him, ‘F*** off, you c***’,” Boadia said.
She said the situation quickly became hostile and that she reported the man’s behaviour to hotel security. According to Boadia, the man continued insulting the women while she tried to raise the alarm.
“I told them I wanted to report him, and he started calling us whores and prostitutes.”
Boadia also alleged that the man slapped the Danish woman. The claim has not been independently tested in court.
Sons called back to hotel
Boadia said she became concerned for her safety and contacted her 18-year-old twin sons, asking them to return to the hotel. She also asked hotel staff to call the police as the man began to leave.
According to her account, the man later returned after noticing that she was recording him on her cellphone. She alleges that he then assaulted her.
“He hit me like I was a man,” Boadia said.
During the confrontation, one of Boadia’s sons became involved in a physical struggle with the man. She said her son confronted him after accusing him of hitting his mother.
Boadia alleged that the man then directed his aggression towards her son. The son was later able to provide a statement and opened an assault case at Douglasdale police station.
It was not immediately clear whether the man had been formally charged or whether he had provided his version of events to police. No details about his identity were released.
Police confirm investigation
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed that a case of common assault had been opened and was under investigation.
“No one has been arrested,” she said.
Common assault cases are investigated through statements from the complainant and witnesses, as well as any available evidence that may help establish what happened. In this case, investigators could examine cellphone footage, hotel security records and statements from people who were present during the confrontation.
The alleged incident involved several people, including Boadia, the Danish woman, her sister, Boadia’s twin sons and the unidentified man. The hotel’s security personnel may also be able to assist investigators with information about the report made at the premises and the request for police assistance.
The case remains an allegation, and the man has not been arrested or convicted of any offence. Police have not announced whether investigators have interviewed him or whether further charges may follow.
For Boadia, however, the incident has had a serious emotional impact. She said she had been visiting family and spending time with her children when the evening became frightening and confrontational.
Her account has also raised questions about the response available to guests who report threatening behaviour at hotels and other public venues. The investigation will need to establish how the confrontation unfolded, whether anyone was assaulted and whether additional offences were committed.
Police said the matter remained under investigation, while Boadia and the other people involved awaited further developments in the case.