Cape Town - The South African Institute for Race Relations (SAIRR) says laws criminalising racism won’t stop discrimination, but would “drive racism underground”.
SAIRR spokeswoman Mienke Mari Steytler said: “We would therefore be living in the illusion that there are no racists in the country when, in fact, they still exist.”
However, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said a section of society believes that criminalising racism, racial discrimination and hate speech is an appropriate and acceptable means of advancing the goals of a substantive equality and multicultural tolerance in the country.
The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill will outlaw hate speech and criminalise unfair discrimination. It will be tabled in Parliament in September.
“The institution believes a new set of laws focusing on racism is not needed,” Steytler said.
“The constitution is clear on what constitutes hate speech (which includes racist speech) and crimen injuria also allows for prosecution of acts of ‘unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another’.”
The institute opposes a new set of laws as “one will have to be incredibly careful not to infringe upon freedom of speech, which is a cornerstone of our democracy. We ask ourselves: Where will the line be drawn? Will comedians start to be prosecuted?”
Steytler said the country’s laws had enough provision to prosecute incidents of racism and discrimination.
“We have to ensure that South Africans are informed about the routes they can take and also where they can report their grievances, from the Equality Courts and well as the SAHRC,” she said.
The institution is of the opinion that racism, xenophobia and an increase of protest action all have the same underlying causes - an extremely weak economy, an education system that is only serving a few and empowerment policies that empower a small elite.
“This leads to a boiling pot atmosphere in the country, leading to frustrated and angry people who then try to find avenues (even if wrong avenues) to express themselves.”
SAHRC spokesman Isaac Mangena said comments made by KwaZulu-Natal real estate agent, Penny Sparrow, and other comments that incite hate speech, have sparked fierce national conversation about racism and how the government should respond in an appropriate and effective manner.
“You can criminalise specific acts or behaviours, like racist hate speech, etc, but not the attitudes,” Mangena said.
The SAHRC would make submissions when the bill opens for public comment.
“The persistent nature of racism is not necessarily due to the failure of the state to put in place policies and mechanisms to address it. Instead, it exists despite the existence of laws,” he said.
He said racism remains the most contentious, divisive and sensitive challenge confronting the country.
“What cannot be ignored, glossed over or jettisoned in this debate is that there is no way to move forward without meaningfully dealing with the historical, political and economic contexts,” Mangena said.
Cape Argus