CULTURAL HERITAGE
White SA: It’s the progressive forces vs conservatives
The state can only tamp down on public expressions of hate, which is not a long-term solution
An estate agent tweets that black people are monkeys, another hurls racist abuse at police officers, who keep calm while facing the barrage. The proprietor of a B&B refuses to host black people. What is wrong with these people? Didn’t they get the memo that racist and discriminatory behaviour is now against the law in SA?The justice system is limping badly. Prisoners awaiting trial languish in inhumane conditions because they can’t afford bail. Dockets are lost. Shaun Abrahams is the national director of public prosecutions. Schabir Shaik plays mean rounds of golf, possibly with KPMG executives. Yet the system does work on occasion. Vicki Momberg was convicted on charges of crimen injuria and sent to jail. “Kill the boer” was deemed to be hate speech. The state has the legal architecture, the ability and the will to apply the law to repress overt racist acts. Finished and klaar? Far from it. Apartheid’s architects were active supporters and admirers of Adolf Hitler and Nazism during...
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