Durban - A Pietermaritzburg businessman accused of hurling racial insults at his employee appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Seventy-four-year-old Edmund Rusty Roodt appeared in court for alleged crimen injuria.
It is alleged that repeatedly called his employee, Jabulani Tshabalala, a baboon. According to Tshabalala, 54, a stock receiver, his former boss has been verbally abusing him since 2007.
Speaking to the Daily News on Thursday, Tshabalala said Roodt had previously called him a k****r, 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 explained that he previously used to ignore Roodt’s insults because Roodt was elderly and Tshabalala was also afraid of losing his job.
“But there is only so much a man can take. People must have respect for each other. The days of apartheid are over. He can’t talk to me like that and just get away with it,” Tshabalala said.
He added that all he wanted was for Roodt to acknowledge that what he did was wrong and apologise to him. “We have just celebrated 20 years of democracy. This kind of behaviour must not be tolerated,” he said.
Roodt has denied the allegations.
The case was adjourned to February 27 for possible mediation between Tshabalala and Roodt.
SA Human Rights Commission spokesman Isaac Mangena said if proven in court, the matter amounts to hate speech and racial intolerance.
Daily News