Durban: A man who made anti-Semitic comments about the Jewish community in a series of tweets two years ago has been sentenced in the Randburg Magistrate's Court, Gauteng.
Matome Letsoalo was handed a three-year sentence, which was suspended for five years. Last week, Letsoalo pleaded guilty to a charge of crimen injuria which had been lodged by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).
Letsoalo posted: "@SAJBD The #Holocaust Will be like a Picnic When we are done with all you Zionist Bastards. F**k All of You."
The tweet showed photographs of Holocaust victims.
He then tweeted: "SAJBD Must get Decimated. We Can’t have Scandinavian Rats, Fake Jews, Zionist Bastards Running our Economy."
According to the SAJBD, when Letsoalo was challenged by others, he posted threatening and abusive messages which led the board to open a case of crimen injuria.
In pronouncing sentence, the presiding magistrate warned that hateful statements like those made by the accused, violated the constitution.
The magistrate said these kinds of comments were becoming all too prevalent in SA.
He said that the courts therefore had a responsibility to deal firmly with such incidents so as to send a strong message that such behaviour would not be tolerated. For this reason, it had been decided to impose the maximum jail term allowed by a district court.
The magistrate ruled that in view of Letsoalo’s having entered a guilty plea and expressed remorse for his actions, the sentence would be suspended for five years subject to his not repeating the same offence.
SAJBD national director, Wendy Kahn welcomed the court’s decision.
"The fact that the maximum sentence is an encouraging demonstration of the seriousness with which the courts are viewing hate speech, in this case anti-Semitism, and believe it will be a deterrent to people who feel they are free to engage in such behaviour in our country," she said.
She added that the ruling had established an important precedent for similar cases that the SAJBD might have to lay in future, and had heralded in tougher consequences for anti-Semites.
IOL