F W DE KLERK FOUNDATION RESPONDS TO THE HATE SPEECH BY THE REV KEMO IMMANUEL WATERS

The F W de Klerk Foundation wishes to condemn in the strongest terms the message recently broadcast on Twitter by Kemo Immanuel Waters calling for white South Africans to be killed. According to Waters' message "The only way to end racism is to kill a material number of whites" (see report).

There is a strong possibility that Waters - a DJ and self-proclaimed  religious leader -  is simply seeking publicity. However, in our complex multicultural and multiracial society we simply cannot afford any actions and statements by anyone  that might lead to inter-racial violence. The Constitution quite rightly prohibits and use of freedom of expression to incite imminent violence or to advocate hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.

The Foundation will lodge a formal complaint regarding Waters' statement with the Human Rights Commission.

Statement issued by the FW de Klerk Foundation, January 9 2012

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