The true tragedy for South Africa this year was the explosion of racial outbursts exacerbated by unfiltered social media, writes Shaun Smillie.
It’s been a tough year but the true tragedy for South Africa in 2016 was the explosion of racial outbursts exacerbated by unfiltered social media.
Straight off the mark on January 2, KwaZulu-Natal realtor Penny Sparrow took to Facebook, comparing black beachgoers to monkeys.
“Now. (sic) I shall address the blacks of South Africa as monkeys as I see the cute little wild monkeys do the same, pick, drop and litter.” The post went viral with Sparrow trying to defend herself saying she was merely “stating the facts”.
She was found guilty of hate speech in the Equality Court and ordered to pay R150 000 to the Adelaide and Oliver Tambo Foundation. Later in the year, she pleaded guilty to crimen injuria, and was given a choice of a R5 000 fine or 12 months in jail. She chose to pay the fine.
In May, Justice Minister Michael Masutha put High Court Judge Mabel Jansen on special leave, after comments she made on Facebook to journalist Gillian Schutte.
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Schutte posted excerpts of a year-old exchange she had with Jansen, who wrote of black people: “In their culture a woman is there to pleasure them. Period. It is seen as an absolute right and a woman’s consent is not required. I still have to meet a black girl who was not raped at about 12. I am dead serious.”
Jansen said she was referring to rape cases she had presided over, and that her comments were taken out of context. Despite her apology on social media, Jansen was hauled before the Judicial Conduct Committee.
Also in May, Capetonian Matthew Theunissen went on Facebook and ranted about transformation in sport. His comments followed an announcement by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula that certain national sporting codes would be suspended from participating internationally due to a failure to meet transformations targets.
The SA Human Rights Commission investigated the matter. After a conciliation meeting, Theunissen agreed to do community service in a disadvantaged area for up to six months as well as attend anger management therapy.
Who could forget the Rhodes scholar from Oxford University who boasted online how he and his friend made a waitress cry “typical white tears”, after he wrote on the bill “we will give a tip when you return the land”.
Ntokozo Qwabe made international news with his misguided Facebook gloat. His actions were widely criticised, and his critics included the ANC and his father.
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A campaign raised R150 000 for the waitress and a petition was started to have Qwabe expelled from Oxford. The university rejected it on the grounds that he was entitled to free speech. In November, a video began circulating on social media showing a white man forcing a black man into a coffin, and then threatening to douse him in petrol and set him alight.
Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson had accused Victor Rethabile Mlotshwa of trespassing and, allegedly, at gun point forced him into the coffin.
The incident would probably have never been reported to police had one of the men not decided to record it. Mlotshwa would later say that he didn’t report the incident because he didn’t have any evidence.
Oosthuizen and Martins Jackson spent Christmas in jail. They face charges of kidnapping and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Then there was the matter of black hair, when pupils at Pretoria High School for Girls protested alleged racism from white teachers. A similar protest was staged at Sans Souci Girls’ High in Cape Town.
The cause of the protests was a section of the school code of conduct that related to hairstyles and instructed black students to chemically straighten their hair.
The Department of Basic Education promised to review legislation on schools’ codes of conduct to ensure the eradication of discriminatory policies.
Mike Dzange was initially suspended from The Bungalow restaurant in Cape Town, after he identified two patrons as “2 blacks” on their bill. A snap of the bill went viral. The ANC Youth League got involved and said that Dzange, who is black, had apologised to the Bungalow management. It emerged that he had written “2 blacks” to identify the customers. In his Christmas address, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South Africans to rededicate themselves to the ideals of building a non-racial society.