‘Stupid animals’ Facebook post leads to complaint of racism

A CRIMINAL complaint was lodged against Cape Town resident Vanessa Hartley yesterday, for making racist comments on Facebook.

Hartley posted on Facebook at the weekend that African people should be tied to a rope and that they were “like stupid animals”.

Hout Bay Civic Association secretary Roscoe Jacobs said the post had affected genuine attempts by residents in Hout Bay to work together to address the challenges they face as residents in the community negatively.

“We are trying to address the apartheid-style town planning that is still evident in our community and we can only do that by working together.

“This doesn’t [help] us,” he said. Jacobs said Hartley’s comment was made after someone took to Facebook claiming that people from other African countries tied up seals illegally and fed them at Hout Bay’s harbour.

“There was a seal spotted in the water that was dead.

“A person posted on Facebook about this seal and how these people that are feeding the seal to generate income actually [caused it]‚” he said.

“Her comment was basically that if these African people are tying up seals‚ we should be tying them up‚” Jacobs said.

He said there was no truth in the claims of seals being tied up.

ANC spokeswoman Yonela Diko said the party would open a criminal complaint.