A heated confrontation after a swim at Kings Beach has left a Gqeberha environmentalist bruised and battered while bringing into the spotlight a simmering dispute in the city’s open-water swimming community.
Gary Koekemoer, 60, alleged that Ra’ees Khan, 30, punched him twice in the face on Friday after accusing him of making negative comments about him.
Khan denies Koekemoer’s account, claiming he struck him in self-defence after Koekemoer repeatedly bumped into him and he feared a headbutt.
He turned to his lawyer the same day, with a letter accusing Koekemoer of provoking the confrontation and warning of urgent court action if he did not agree to stay away from him.
Koekemoer is a race director for Aweh Let’s Swim, while Khan is the president of SwimGQ.
Police confirmed that Koekemoer had opened a case of common assault at the Humewood police station.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said the complainant alleged that a man, whom he knew, had assaulted him at the beachfront.
Koekemoer said he and four friends had completed their regular morning swim from the McArthur Baths area towards the six-deck area and back.
They were heading to the parking area for coffee when he stopped to dispose of litter he had picked up on the beach.
While turning an overturned rubbish bin upright, he noticed a man in a hoodie and dark glasses approaching.
He said he recognised Khan as he came closer.
“He started shouting at me, put his finger in my face and said that I’ve been talking sh*t about him on Facebook and email,” Koekemoer said.
Koekemoer said he asked Khan what he was talking about.
He denied touching, headbutting, threatening or swearing at him.
“He threw three punches. Two of those punches hit me on the face,” he alleged.
“The third punch missed because I fell backwards onto the wall that is there.”
Koekemoer said he suffered bruising around his eye and on his body.
His fellow swimmers reportedly intervened and the confrontation ended.
“What I did ask him to explain was, what was it that I had done to offend him so much that he had to beat me,” Koekemoer said.
A swimmer who reported having witnessed the incident, and asked not to be named, supported Koekemoer’s account of the punches.
The swimmer claimed they saw two blows connect before Koekemoer fell backwards and alleged that Khan had threatened him during the confrontation.
Koekemoer said the incident had distressed the women swimming with him, one of whom broke down in tears.
“The people I swim with are women,” he said.
“They were very distraught so I am worried about them.”
Khan’s legal letter accused Koekemoer of starting the altercation and demanded that he stay away from him.
In the letter, attorney Dean Murray said Koekemoer and Khan had approached each other in a narrow passage leading to the beach.
He alleged that Koekemoer repeatedly bumped his chest against Khan’s, stared at him and tilted his head back in a manner that led Khan to believe a headbutt was imminent.
Khan then struck Koekemoer with a clenched fist to prevent an assault, Murray alleged.
That account directly contradicts Koekemoer’s assertion that he did not make physical contact with Khan before being punched.
Murray’s letter also said a heated exchange followed and alleged that one of Koekemoer’s acquaintances had pushed Khan.
Murray said Khan left because he feared for his safety.
The letter said Khan intended to lay an assault charge.
It also demanded that Koekemoer have no contact with Khan and refrain from making negative comments about him or SwimGQ.
Murray warned that Khan would seek an urgent court order and a punitive costs order if the undertaking was not given.
In a separate response, Khan denied the allegations against him and said he had been out for a morning jog when he was accosted.
“I also distance myself from any organisations as I was only out on a morning jog at the time of the incident,” he said.
“Perhaps he may be better positioned to explain the motive behind his aggression towards me.
“My legal teams are taking all the necessary civil and criminal actions.”
Khan urged the public to refrain from speculation and allow the legal process to take its course.
Koekemoer said he was particularly troubled that the confrontation had happened in a community he had regarded as a safe space.
“It is a blot on the swim community and we have to solve it somehow.”
He described open-water swimming as a calming and, at times, spiritual experience.
The swimmers often picked up plastic and glass from the beach after getting out of the water, he said.
Marguerite Smit, who runs Aweh Let’s Swim, was not at Kings Beach when the confrontation occurred.
She said tensions between swimming groups had been building for years and had divided people.
“It is horrible,” she said.
“It was a group of people that all used to swim together that are now divided.”
Smit believes the tensions involve competition between swimming events.
Despite the division, Smit said she wanted the groups to sit down and resolve their differences.
“They could come to the table and explain to us what the problem is so that we can sort it out like adults,” she said.
A woman, who responded on behalf of SwimGQ’s management committee, but did not provide her name or position, said the organisation had no connection to the confrontation and denied tensions with other swimming, triathlon or lifesaving groups.
She said Koekemoer was the alleged aggressor and a former member of the organisation.
She alleged that Koekemoer had become disgruntled and accused SwimGQ of taking customers from his events, where swimmers paid to participate.
The response also accused Koekemoer and his team of a prolonged campaign against the organisation and its members, with alleged incidents including slander, intimidation, racism, Islamophobia, stalking, cyberbullying, threats and harassment.
It listed complaints to the municipality and media, online comments about the organisation and objections to The Herald Citizens of the Year Awards among its claims.
The organisation won the sports category at the 2026 awards.
She said the alleged conduct caused concern about the safety of its members and operations and described the accusations as part of an “alarming trend of obsession”.
“How many more times should we demand, simply leave us alone?” she asked.
Smit, however, said none of the allegations against them was true.
She said even if the allegations were true, it did not warrant assaulting someone.
“If this person believes that these allegations are true, no attempt has been made to approach me and discuss this in any way,” Smit said.
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