Durban - Struggle hero, Ahmed Kathrada, may be called to testify on alleged hate speech directed at the Indian community, including accusations of Indians enslaving Africans, claims that Gandhi was a racist and a warning of “civil war” in KwaZulu-Natal.
The provocative remarks were made by members of the controversial Mazibuye African Forum and are now the subject of a Durban Equality Court action.
Professor Karthy Govender, legal counsel for the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and for attorney Kirith Haria, was before the court on Friday when he indicated Kathrada’s willingness to give evidence.
The three applicants had lodged a complaint with the Equality Court in 2014 after comments by forum members Zweli Sangweni and Lloyd Phumlani Mfeka.
On Friday, Sangweni and Mfeka rejected Equality Court magistrate John Saunders’s proposal that the matter be decided on court papers alone, saying that while they do not dispute the comments made, they wanted the matter to go to trial.
They also indicated they wanted to testify. The hearing was set down for two days in July.
The SAHRC’s chairperson, Mabedle Mushwana, had referred to four examples it considered hate speech against the Indian community.
The first was a statement issued by Sangweni on behalf of the forum about the announced statue to commemorate the arrival of Indian indentured labourers to be erected near Durban Harbour.
“It is a monumental insult to leaders like Dr John Langalibalele Dube, Pixley Isaka Seme, iNkosi Bhambatha ka Mancinza and King Cetshwayo, to name a few leaders, who uncompromisingly defended the land and breadth of KwaZulu to commemorate the arrival of indentured labourers,” the statement read.
Mushwana said the South African Indian community was accused of being racist and accused Mahatma Gandhi of being racist.
The chairman said these remarks were racist and “calculated to bring South African Indians into contempt and ridicule”.
The second example was an article written by Mfeka and published in the City Press in May 2013. Prior to the article, the newspaper had reported that Newcastle mayor Afzul Rehman was referred to as a “Gupta” by a traffic official when he was renewing his driving licence.
Mushwana said Mfeka had warned Rehman “not to grandstand against an African person in the way you did to the traffic official who innocently mistook you for one of the Gupta brothers”. Mfeka also warned that such behaviour could “attract severe African contempt”.
Further, Mushwana said there was a threat of violence in this article as Mfeka had referred to a “ticking time bomb of deadly confrontation between the two communities” as inevitable.
The third cited example were comments from a Mazibuye newsletter which Mushwana felt conveyed the message that “South African Indians had grown economically by deceit and stealth and by exploiting and subjugating African people, including their children”.
In the newsletter, Indian people were also described using the derogatory term “coolie”.
The fourth example was from a January 2014 newspaper article in which Sangweni complained about the involvement of Indians in the economy. The comments, Mushwana said, concluded that South African Indians were accused of enslaving Africans and reference was also made to a civil war in the province.
“In bringing this application, the objective of the SAHRC is not to stifle expression on matters of public interest but rather to stop the dissemination of hate speech which undermines the core values of our constitutional order,” said Mushwana.
The applicants have called for an apology for the harm their expression has caused; that they be interdicted from engaging in hate speech; and for the Forum and its members to pay R50 000 in damages.
In response, Mfeka referred to the right to freedom of expression and had said the test for hate speech was unclear. He denied engaging in hate speech against the Indian community, or that his comments required a public apology.
Mfeka and Sangweni suggested this matter be dismissed and instead discussed at an alternative platform for positive engagement.
In court, Saunders asked whether the high court order interdicting Mazibuye from making racist comments was not a duplication of what was being sought in the Equality Court.
Govender referred to further comments made via social media by the members - one being “a good Indian is a dead Indian”. “Our contention is that there has been a pattern of behaviour,” said Govender, referring to the four examples cited.
Mfeka, he said, admitted to these comments but was unsure whether it amounted to hate speech.
Daily News