Question NW764 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
30 April 2024 - NW764
Van Dyk, Ms V to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
(1)(a) What is the status of the court case at the Equality Court in Gauteng regarding the alleged racist utterances made by a certain person (name and details furnished) and (b) by what date is it envisaged that the specified court would reach an outcome; (2) what are the reasons that the specified matter has not been addressed and/or prioritised yet, while other racist utterances like that of Ms Penny Sparrow were met with a guilty verdict of hate speech within a short period of time; (3) whether he has found that the specified person is receiving special treatment; if not, what are the reasons that the specified person has not been held accountable yet; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The matter is being dealt with by the SA Human Rights Commission who have provided me inter alia with the following report:
The complaint was initiated by the Commission’s Northern Cape Provincial Office (NCPO) when they became aware of the audio recording. The NCPO made a preliminary assessment of the complaint and determined that the complaint would best be dealt with through litigation in the Equality Court.
The NCPO established that the respondent’s primary residence was in Gauteng and as per the Commissions Complaints Handling Procedure in August 2023, the complaint was transferred to the Gauteng Provincial Office (GPO).
The GPO has:
- appointed a tracing agent to confirm the respondents address;
- briefed counsel to draft an application in terms of section 20 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act against the respondent based on the utterances made by him in the audio recordings;
- forwarded a letter to the Respondent (via his attorneys) in April 2024 to obtain his response to the complaint. The GPO awaits the Respondent’s response.