CASE NUMBER: 21/2003 – LABUSCHAGNE VS YFM – HATE SPEECH

A presenter at the Respondent radio station commented, in crude racial terms, on a news item which had received wide coverage in the press: denouncing Afrikaners as “pigs”. It turned out that the presenter was misinformed on the facts of the matter. The news item alleged that men had subjected a young black woman to bestiality. The station manager conceded that the presenter had been mistaken and that, in any case, this kind of derogatory language was unacceptable on his station. The CEO of the station sent an e-mail to the complainant conceding that the remarks were racist, and apologized to the complainant. The presenter also apologized. The Tribunal held that the words amounted to hate speech based on race that constituted incitement to cause harm.  As a result of the seriousness of the hate speech, a fine was imposed on the Respondent.