STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Human rights rulings show a bias towards a popular persona
Firebrand Julius Malema gets away with being outspoken, yet Bongani Masuku is sanctioned for utterances about Israel
Whether you have the right to speak depends on who you are, not what you say. That seems to be the view of a Human Rights Commission (HRC) intent on protecting the rights of some but not others. The commission has attracted attention because it found that statements by EFF leader Julius Malema — “We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people, at least for now” and in KwaZulu-Natal “everything is strategically given to Indians” — may be offensive but are not hate speech. Its decision was based on the advice of a lawyer who found that Malema’s comments on whites were merely contributing to the debate on land reform and that he “did not begrudge Indians economic prosperity but rather asked that they share the wealth”. While the ruling has dismayed a wide spectrum of people who feel the commission is condoning violent threats and the labelling of entire communities, it could mean it is reluctant to interfere with free political speech, even when it offends people. Yet, that...
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