South Africa: Facebook post describing black people as 'monkeys' ignites debate over legacy of racism in Rainbow Nation

Penny Sparrow, a retired estate agent, faces criminal charges and is under investigation by the country's Human Rights Commission over her comments on social media

22 years after the end of apartheid, the complex legacy of racism endures in South Africa (Getty)

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has called for the schools to teach anti-racism and for hate speech legislation to be strengthened after widespread anger at a viral Facebook post that described black people as monkeys.

The post has ignited debate over the complex legacy of racism in the Rainbow Nation, 22 years after the end of apartheid. “South Africans should be taught at a young stage to despise racism,” said ANC spokesman Sihle Zikalala.

He said the subject should be included on the curriculum of all schools in the country.

Penny Sparrow, a retired estate agent, faces criminal charges and is under investigation by the South Africa Human Rights Commission over her comments about black people celebrating New Year’s Day on a public beach.

“These monkeys that are allowed to be released on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on to public beaches, towns etc, obviously have no education whatsoever, so to allow them loose is inviting huge dirt and troubles and discomfort to others,” she wrote.

“I’m sorry to say that I was amongst the revellers and all I saw were black on black skins (sic) what a shame.”

Penny Sparrow faces criminal charges for describing black people as monkeys in a Facebook post

If convicted under charges of “unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another” she faces a fine, but not a prison sentence. The government has since said it may strengthen the law to include custodial sentences.

“We will soon investigate creating a specific law or amending the existing legislation to ensure that acts of racism and promotion of apartheid are criminalised and punishable by imprisonment,” said the ANC’s chief whip, Stone Sizani.

The Facebook post caused a social media furore, and the hashtag #RacismMustFall quickly gained momentum, fuelling the debate about the legacy of apartheid. A report from the Human Rights Commission found there had been a significant increase in the number of reports of racism during the past year.

The charges against Ms Sparrow were brought by individuals from the ANC as well as the Democratic Alliance, the leading opposition party, which suspended her membership. She responded to say she had apologised. “I didn’t mean it personally. I wasn’t being nasty or rude or horrible, but it’s just that they [black people] make a mess. It is just how they are.”

While South Africa has been largely united in its condemnation of Ms Sparrow’s comments, some question whether equal treatment is given to black people accused of discriminating against South Africa’s white minority. A week after Ms Sparrow’s comments, a local government employee in Guateng, the district that includes Johannesburg, called for white people in South Africa to be treated “as Hitler did to the Jews”. “I want to cleanse this country of all white people. We must act as Hitler did to the Jews,” Velaphi Khumalo wrote.

In response, he was suspended from his job, and criminal charges have been brought against him by a 21-year-old citizen, Daniel Amos. But an official investigation is yet to be opened and neither political party has brought any separate charges.

He subsequently wrote an email apologising “for the comments I made that do not reflect the ideologies of a democratic society that are our ideals.”

Businessman Eugene Ripepi, 58, a former ANC member, said that the ANC and President Jacob Zuma were hypocritical, and that the war on racism was too one-sided, protecting only the black community. “Mr Mandela is turning in his grave, he would kick Mr Zuma out in a flash,” he told The Independent.

But 24-year-old post-graduate Li’Tsoanelo Zwane, said the country had yet to deal with the legacy of apartheid. “What is happening now is overt racism coming to the fore, in that racists no longer feel compelled to conceal their racism.”

“A country where a minority still controls significant amounts of the economy, is still immensely privileged and is still reaping the rewards of apartheid can never not be racist,” she added

President Zuma has accused racists of “living in the past” and is expected to exploit the issue to distract from the faltering economy and weakening currency in the run-up to crucial local government elections later this year.