In the latest race row to rock South Africa, a senior white judge is under fire for implying that the act of rape was part of black culture. Gauteng High Court Judge, Mabel Jansen, said that she was unfairly accused of being a racist after comments she posted on Facebook went viral.
Jansen said that her comments were taken out of
context, and that she was referring specifically to rape cases she had heard in
court. “In their culture, a woman is there to pleasure them,” she said. In
another Facebook post, she said “99 per cent of criminal cases I hear is of
black fathers, uncles, and brothers raping children as young as five years
old.’’ The Women’s League of the ruling African National Congress on Monday
called on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to see whether Jansen should be
removed for her comments. League spokesperson, Meokgo Matuba, described the
comments as purely racist and a misrepresentation of facts about black culture.
The official opposition, Democratic Alliance (DA), said that it intended to
report Jansen to the JSC and wanted the South African Human Rights Commission
to investigate her.
“The judge’s comments that rape is part of black culture
are not only hurtful and demeaning, but fundamentally undermine the dignity of
our people. “In doing so, violates the Constitution,” DA Member of Parliament,
Glynnis Breytenbach, said. She said that racism offended the very pillars of
“our democracy and undermines the vision of Nelson Mandela that South Africa is
one nation, united in our diversity, belonging to all who live in it”. There
have been other major racism rows involving social media in recent months. A
Durban estate agent is in hiding after referring to black South Africans as
monkeys in a Facebook message in January. Penny Sparrow, who was complaining
about the litter on Durban’s beaches received death threats. Shortly
afterwards, respected economist, Chris Hart, fuelled the flames when he rushed
to Sparrow’s defence. He wrote on twitter as follow “more than 25 years after
Apartheid ended, the victims are increasing along with a sense of entitlement
and hatred towards minorities.’’
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