For calling blacks monkeys, S’African woman fined $10,000

A South African court has ordered that a woman who referred to blacks as monkeys pay a fine of 150,000 rand ($10,000) to charity after she was found guilty of hate speech.

Reports say the case is the latest of a string of similar occurrences which has exposed racial segregation and tension that has persevered for more than two decades of apartheid rule.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) brought charges against former estate agent Penny Sparrow after she caused public outrage by saying on her Facebook page that blacks made beaches dirty like “wild monkeys”.

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“Her words convey the message both explicitly and implicitly to the reader that black people are not worthy of being described as human beings,” Umzinto Equality Court Magistrate Irfaan Khalil was quoted as saying on News24.

Khalil ordered Sparrow to pay the fine within 60 days. Sparrow’s daughter, who represented her in court, said her mother was too sick to attend and fears for her life.

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