PICTURE: MOEKETSI MOTICCOE If you suspect 2016 is fast becoming the year of the social media clap-back against racism in SA, you are not mistaken. I was taken aback earlier this week by a statistic from the South African Human Rights Commission. Apparently, the proportion of complaints about racist speech on online platforms and social media that the commission deals with on an annual basis rose sharply from 2% to 22% in the past two financial years.I have struggled to corroborate this exact figure, but a news report in July indicates that the commission has already dealt with and finalised 505 complaints of racism in the current financial year, an increase of 82% from 2015.The commission has a huge mandate that encompasses all issues related to human rights under the Constitution: from access to housing, basic services, healthcare and education, to matters related to equality, unfair discrimination and access to justice. It has a duty to educate, promote and prosecute these matters...
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