Hate Speech Bill ripe for abuse - AfriForum condemns government’s pushing through of bill
10 May 2024
The South African government has pushed through a deeply flawed hate speech bill that opens the door for serious abuses. The civil rights organisation AfriForum has been vocal about the concerning flaws of the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill. AfriForum has submitted multiple written and oral submissions over the years warning about how this bill enables gross violations by the government of citizens’ right to freedom of expression.
The constitutional standard for hate speech has two qualifiers. Hate speech encompasses speech that advocates hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and which contains incitement to cause harm. According to the bill, however, the mere propagation of hatred is sufficient for speech to be regarded as hate speech. This bill further waters down the constitutional right to freedom of expression through its widening of the definition of “harm” to include emotional and social harm.
It is especially important to be weary of any bill which seeks to limit freedom of expression within the worsening context of double standards in South Africa regarding hate speech when it comes to court verdicts, government application of legislation and media condemnation. This bill only creates further potential for these harmful double standards to be applied with greater prejudice and severity.
The fact that John Jeffery, the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, directed hateful, stereotyping comments at Afrikaners during a portfolio committee meeting on this exact Bill, which claims to want to protect groups from that type of speech, demonstrates exactly why AfriForum does not support granting the government more power to police speech in accordance with its clear double standards.