Durban - A Pietermaritzburg businessman accused of hurling racial insults at his employee, had charges against him withdrawn at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, to the anger and disappointment of the employee and members of the EFF.
Charges of crimen injuria against 74-year-old Edmund Rusty Roodt were withdrawn on the instructions of the chief prosecutor.
No other reasons were furnished in court.
It was alleged that Roodt repeatedly called his employee, Jabulani Tshabalala, a baboon.
According to Tshabalala, 54, a stock receiver, and a branch chairman of the Economic Freedom Fighters, his former boss had been verbally abusing him since 2007.
Tshabalala said Roodt had previously called him a k*****, and then more recently started referring to him as a baboon.
“I am not an animal. He calls me a baboon because I am black and have dark skin. That is just racist,” Tshabalala said.
He said he was very sad that charges against Roodt had been withdrawn, as he had been robbed of his dignity.
“This is not justice,” he said.
EFF provincial chairman, Vukani Ndlovu, who was at court supporting Tshabalala on Wednesday, along with 20 other EFF members, said it was shocking that the case had been dismissed.
“The court did not furnish us with any reasons for the withdrawal of the charges. How can we move forward without even an explanation? We believe there is strong evidence against Roodt, who even admitted to media that he had called Mr Tshabalala a baboon,” Ndlovu said.
“What more does the court require?”
He promised that the EFF would not allow the matter to rest until justice was done for Tshabalala.
“How can we accept white people referring to black people as baboons in our democracy?
“We will take the war to the doorstep of people like this. They think they have won this round, but they haven’t. This was round one… We will return for round two and we will fight until round 100, if that’s what it takes,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said the EFF would secure the services of an attorney for Tshabalala and assist him in reinstating the charges against Roodt.
“This case must be resolved in and out of court. Racism of this nature cannot be tolerated in a civilised society,” he said.
It is understood that charges had been withdrawn against Roodt because he had laid counter-charges of assault against Tshabalala.
It was decided by senior prosecutors that the charges against the pair were mutually destructive and both charges (that of crimen injuria against Roodt and assault against Tshabalala) were withdrawn.
Roodt declined to comment on the matter.
Daily News