Jewish Board takes BLF to Equality Court

THE SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has taken Black First Land First leader Andile Mngxitama to the Equality Court for hate speech following a Holocaust tweet.

The board said yesterday that as the representative body of the South African Jewish community part of its mandate is to protect their civil liberties, and to counter anti-semitism.

Last month Mngxitama caused a storm when he tweeted: “For those claiming the legacy of the holocaust is ONLY negative think about the lampshades and Jewish soap.”

Later that day he followed with another tweet: “the aroma of the burning flesh from the furnace of the holocaust may wet (sic) the appetite of the SA cannibals.”

National director Wendy Kahn said the board was seeking orders from the court to find Mngxitama in violation of the Equality Act as he uttered hate speech, committed harassment, and to find him guilty of unfair discrimination.

Speaking to Cape Times’ sister paper The Mercury yesterday, Mngxitama said he was not surprised by the move, accusing the SAJBD of displaying white supremacist tendencies.

“They claim to be speakers of the English language yet they seem not to know what irony is. I merely paraphrased (Western Cape premier) Helen Zille. My point has been made eloquently by this response to try and silence me.”

The board is also seeking an order that Mngxitama be compelled to make an unconditional apology on Twitter and to remove all hate speech from his Twitter accounts.

The board also wants Mngxitama to participate in an education programme conducted by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, failing which he be ordered to pay R150 000 to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

Mngxitama said, however, he felt that participating in an education programme was meant to ridicule and belittle him and was yet another sign of arrogance by the board.

The board also wants the matter referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.