Anti-white slur case heads for Equality Court
A racist rant involving a black man, who called for white people to be subjected to what "Hitler did to the Jews", is to be heard in the Equality Court, sitting in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, in April.
Judge Roland Surtherland is expected to hear the case against Velaphi Khumalo, according to confirmation the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) had sent to the complainant, Daniel Amos.
A case of crimen injuria was opened against Khumalo and 19 complaints were lodged at the SAHRC.
Khumalo posted the comment on Facebook in January 2016 after former estate agent Penny Sparrow had referred to black people as monkeys in a complaint over litter on the beach.
He wrote: "I want to cleans this country of all white people. we must act as Hitler did to the Jews. I don't believe any more that the is a large number of not so racist whit people. I'm starting to be sceptical even of those within our Movement the ANC. I will from today unfriend all white people I have as friends from today u must be put under the same blanket as any other racist white because secretly u all are a bunch of racist fuck heads. as we have already seen [sic]."
In July 2016, the SAHRC confirmed it was preparing to take Khumalo to court for alleged hate speech, saying it had consolidated all the individual matters and registered a new complaint against him in the name of the SAHRC.
On Thursday Amos said that, if Khumalo was found guilty, he hoped Khumalo would receive a similar sentence to the one imposed on Vicki Momberg.
The former estate agent was sentenced in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday to three years in prison, of which one year was suspended.
Momberg was convicted of four counts of crimen injuria on November 3 in connection with her rant, which started when she lashed out at a black police officer who had helped her after an alleged smash-and-grab incident in Northriding, Johannesburg.
"I would hope [Khumalo would get a similar sentence] as it would show equality in our system," Amos told News24.
"It would be very [unfair] to give one such a punishment and the other not, based on their skin colour."
He believed the punishment was just, because "we have no place in SA for such thoughts".
"It set a fantastic precedent. You can't change someone's mentality, but you can prevent them from inflicting such pain on others."
Khumalo worked for the Gauteng government and the provincial Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation distanced itself from him, calling the post "barbaric".
He was suspended with pay and subjected to a disciplinary hearing, where he was charged for misconduct.
Last year, the department said he had pleaded guilty and committed himself to corrective measures, which included counselling. He was given a final warning by the disciplinary panel and went back to work as a sports promoter, tasked with encouraging the province to be active.
