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Woman Becomes First South African
Imprisoned for Racist Speech
LONDON – If Vicki Momberg had only unleashed
a high-volume tirade at the South African police
officers, video of it would have been of mere
passing interest. But her repeated use of a racial
slur unfamiliar to most Americans, but explosive
in South Africa – made her notorious, and led to
demands to make her an example.
On Wednesday, Ms. Momberg, a white woman,
became the first person in South Africa to be sent to
prison for using racist language against someone,
according to prosecutors and legal experts.
Specifically, she hurled the term kaffir, considered
the most offensive racial slur in South Africa so
radioactive socially that it is often referred to as the
k-word.
The 2016 viral video of her outburst at police
officers who responded to her report of thieves
breaking into her car set off a national furor, and
made Ms. Momberg a symbol of the racism that
persists a generation after the collapse of
apartheid.
Partly because of that video, viewed repeatedly on
social media and news sites, the parliament may
take up a bill that would make prosecution for hate
speech more common.
In a Johannesburg courtroom on Wednesday,
Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan sentenced Ms.
Momberg to three years in prison, with one year
suspended. Local media reported that Ms.
Momberg, once a well-off real estate agent, cried as
the sentence was read. The judge refused to allow
Ms. Momberg to remain free on bail pending an
appeal, and officers led her away from the
courtroom.
Her lawyer, Kevin Lawlor, declined to comment.
The decision was met mostly with celebration on
social media, in a majority-black country where
profound inequality coexists with memories of an
apartheid system that institutionalized racial
separation and oppression. [...]
Richard Pérez-Peña, Mar. 28, 2018
Disponível em: <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/ 03/28/world/europe/south-africa-racist-speech>. Acesso em: 31 mar. 2018.