Penny Sparrow: I am not a racist

Leonie Pretorius

14 June 2016

Penny Sparrow has broken her silence after being fined R150,000 by the Equality Court for comparing black people to monkeys.

Sparrow has told reporters that she is not a racist, her punishment is too harsh and the stress of her public shaming has taken its toll on her health.

She sparked an internet storm with her post on Facebook earlier this year about dirty Durban beaches which prompted the African National Congress  to pursue a hate speech complaint against her.

 Sparrow was sentenced in abstention last week.