Momberg goes down Racists be warned!
K-word rant at policeman earns unrepentant bigot an effective two-year jail term
Vicki Momberg went to sleep behind bars at Johannesburg Prison yesterday, leaving her own indelible mark on South African history.
The former estate agent became the first person in the country’s history to be jailed for crimen injuria, defined as a “willful injury to someone’s dignity, caused by the use of obscene or racially offensive language or gestures”.
She called Constable David Mkhondo the k-word repeatedly while the officer was trying to help her after a smash and grab incident in 2016.
Prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams has told Sowetan’s sister publication, TimesLIVE, that Momberg’s effective twoyear jail term was a “victory”.
“This is a victory for the rule of law and sends a strong message to every citizen to treat every other person with dignity, and not to discriminate on the basis of race.
“This foreshadows the significance and necessity of the need for the Hate Speech Bill (currently before parliament).
“It is also clear that we have a long way to go as a people to advance the values and ethos of our young democracy and to promote constitutional values.”
Twenty-four years into South Africa’s democracy, Momberg’s conviction and effective jail term has been welcomed, maligned and ominously misinterpreted.
What needs to be understood though, is that Momberg’s reaction to the four crimen injuria charges brought against her – after she was filmed and recorded using the k-word 48 times – was what enabled prosecutor Yusuf Baba to argue that she should get jail time.
Crimen injuria cases more often than not end in fines, community service and – at worst – a suspended sentence.
Key to avoiding harsh punishment in such cases is a “genuine” display of remorse, and at least the appearance that the accused has understood and is sorry for the hurt caused by his or her words.
Momberg, however, seemingly did everything she could to avoid the impression that she was even remotely sorry.
In arguing for Momberg to get jail time, Baba quoted her reaction to his question about whether she had showed any remorse for her conduct.
“Anyone can determine remorse differently,” she said. “I know how I feel and I know how much it has affected my life. I know what impact it has had on other peoples’ lives.
“I know what drama it has caused for a lot of people. I know what shame it has brought on my own family, my own friends, my colleagues. I understand the impact of what everything has had.”
Baba said – in light of this response and Momberg’s conduct throughout the case – the state believed she had not shown any real remorse.
Momberg claimed she was genuinely sorry for what she had said, but when she was interviewed by a black probation officer meant to testify in her defense, she used such “undermining” language that the young woman asked to be taken off the case.
“I cannot put the words on the experience I had. I later told my supervisor I cannot continue with the investigation‚” probation officer Takalani Sekoba testified. She said Momberg made her feel “inferior, intimidated and degraded”.
Sekoba said she tried to interview Momberg in January following her conviction.
But Momberg said Sekoba would not understand because she was black and Momberg was white. Momberg also argued that the k-word is not offensive “unless they (black people) feel or believe they are what they are being called”.
Momberg’s lawyer has already indicated that she will seek leave to appeal her sentence. That application is expected to take place on Wednesday.
This is a victory for the rule of law. It sends out a strong message Shaun Abrahams PROSECUTIONS BOSS