The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has welcomed a ruling against former Cosatu general secretary in the Western Cape Tony Ehrenreich.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that a social media comment made by Ehrenreich amounted to hate speech, the SABC reported. It has ordered Ehrenreich to apologise in writing for offensive comments he made on social media.
He must apologise to the SAJBD within one month. The written statement must also affirm his commitment to constitutional values.
In 2014, he posted a comment on Facebook calling for revenge attacks against the SAJBD and what he calls other "Zionist supporters" in retaliation for the deaths of Palestinian civilians. The commission also found that it advocated unfair discrimination against the board.
"The commission is of the view that the post in question can be reasonably construed to demonstrate a clear intention to promote hatred of the members of the (SAJBD)‚ as is prohibited by Section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act. Here, the commission found that the (social media post) amounted to hate speech‚" the SAHRC ruled.
The national director of the Jewish Board Of Deputies, Wendy Khan, said they "very pleased with the finding" and the strong stance taken in terms of incitement to violence.
"It's never okay to threaten other South Africans irrespective of what your political views are and I think this is a very very important finding in that regard."
Another statement by Ehrenreich‚ objected to by another party‚ was found not to amount to hate speech.