- The police are looking for a Facebook user who purportedly called Makhanda shutdown protesters black monkeys and used the 'k-word'.
- The SACP, which opened the case, said the comments are disgusting and evoked a memory of the country's painful past.
- Potholes sparked the violent protest in which three municipal buildings and a post office were set alight.
The police in Makhanda are looking for a Facebook user calling herself Christa Boshoff for questioning in connection with racist and derogatory comments purportedly made by her on Facebook.
The Facebook user is accused of calling Makhanda shutdown protesters black monkeys and the 'k-word'.
The now-deleted post caused uproar and condemnation in the Eastern Cape town.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscila Naidu said a case of crimen injuria is under investigation.
This is after the SA Communist Party in the region complained to the police on 26 May.
It is understood the Facebook user launched a tirade on the protesters after a video showed a mob storming Pick n Pay supermarket at Makhanda’s Peppergrove Mall before shutting the store.
The group also stormed Rhodes University campus and chased out students from lecture halls and computer labs during a violent three-day service delivery protest.
Potholes sparked the violent protest in which three municipal buildings and a post office were set alight.
READ | Service delivery protest in Makhanda suspended
Boshoff wrote:
The comment further reads: "That’s why you don't see us going to hospitals taking HIV treatment. You k***** is forcing your children in our schools. But guess that's what you voted for. Continue voting ANC and leave us alone."
Naidu said: "Police are investigating a case of crimen injuria. No arrests have been made as the case is still under investigation. The circumstances is [sic] yet to be established."
The SACP called for the Facebook user to be charged and spend time in jail.
SACP regional spokesperson Bongani Hanise said the comments are disgusting and evoked a memory of the country's painful past.
Hanise said:
Hanise said jail time for people who make hate speech and racial comments would send a strong message to whoever holds such views in a democratic dispensation.
"The view of the SACP is that as long as we do not tamper with the economy and address the glaring imbalances in our country, those who have the means of production will continue to undermine the black African majority just like [she] has done. We ought to accelerate the redistribution of the land, and wealth to equal the playing field," said Hanise.
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Hanise added: "The entitlement of souls such as Boshoff is as a result of our highly unequal society characterised by [high] levels of unemployment, rising inequality, rising poverty levels, massive looting of state resources, mass hunger and a stagnant economic growth. This is not an isolated incident we have seen in the past a number of similar assertions, and this in our view must be arrested at its infancy stage."
News24 made several efforts to get hold of Boshoff but drew a blank. Her response will be added once received.