Stop fixating on social media slurs - judge

07/02/2016. Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke speaks on racism at the Glen Methodist Church. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

07/02/2016. Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke speaks on racism at the Glen Methodist Church. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

Published Feb 8, 2016

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Pretoria - Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke has urged South Africans to stop giving too much attention to those who make racist remarks on social media.

He was addressing congregants at the Glen Methodist Church in Pretoria on Saturday - and made it clear that he was not a monkey nor did he look like the animal.

“I’m not a monkey and I don’t look like one. That’s the end of it. These current discussions on race are triggered by such unnecessary remarks,” he said.

Judge Moseneke told congregants comments by the likes of Penny Sparrow were simply inflaming wounds that were about to heal.

While the right to free speech and expression was quite vital and contested, he said, it was crucial in a democratic society, and without it, the nation would suffocate.

However, he said the law did not allow for incitement of imminent violence through statements such as “kill the farmer, kill the Boer” or “all black people should be killed” and “white people should be thrown into the sea”.

“We wrote these laws intentionally to avoid the advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity or gender,” he said. “Racism is rooted in prejudice and greed. Its starting point is an unfounded generalisation.

“We lived in a divided society for years. Apartheid had remarkable laws designed to separate us from birth until death.

“It’s going to take time for us to break down the prejudices which were built over years.”

“We recognise that there are differences between us, and we still strive to try to live united despite them. We can seek to heal divisions of the past. Most reasons for apartheid were fallacious,” he said.

He was proud to have been privileged to have a part in constructing the Constitution in addressing a post-conflict country.

Judge Moseneke said the Constitution’s basic principles also acknowledged that those who worked to build and develop the country must be respected, and acknowledged the contribution of many people in bringing about democracy.

He said that to ensure fairness in the judiciary, they often put judges entering the profession through stereotypical testing.

“Once we are done, they can then be able to judge people fairly and equally,” he said.

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Pretoria News

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