JOHANNESBURG: Singer Steve Hofmeyr’s objections to a statement about the murder of white women by their partners have been dismissed by the SA Human Rights Commission.
The statement that white women had a greater chance of being murdered by their lovers or partners than by a black man did not constitute hate speech and racial discrimination, it found.
This was protected expression under the constitution, spokesman Isaac Mangena said yesterday.
The complaints by Hofmeyr and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) were among 20 submitted after academics reported the finding.
The finding was discussed in a series of articles by journalist Nechama Brodie, researcher Lisa Vetten, website Africa Check, and Professor Naeema Abrahams of the South African Medical Research Council.
The articles cited figures that showed most of the white women murdered between 2009 and 1999 had died at the hands of their intimate partners.
“The commission considered... the specific statement complained of, the methodology regarding independence of the content of the research and the contextual background thereof, and was unable to classify the type of speech complained of as hate speech,” Mangena said.
Hofmeyr, fellow singer Sunette Bridges and the FF+ submitted a list of names of murdered white women as part of their complaint. Bridges wanted Brodie and Vetten to apologise to white men. – Sapa