Raymond Pani
20 April 2016
Justice Minister Michael
Masutha says draft legislation intended to deal with racism will also
criminalise hate speech, where it is intended to cause harm.
The so-called Hate Crimes Bill
is a response to a spate of racist statements made on social media.
Masutha says it was decided
that the draft bill be expanded to include hate speech.
He was speaking during his
department’s budget vote debate in the National Assembly yesterday.
Masutha said “all South
Africans must rise to deal with all forms of intolerance in order to
consolidate the country’s democracy.
As a
department we will soon introduce legislation which will address racism and in
particular, hate speech.”
Deputy Justice Minister John
Jeffery said “the draft bill is a
response to the outcry that met the recent spate of racist comments on social
media”.
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