No jail time for Bluff man over racist Diwali posting

CONCERNS have been raised that the “lenient” sentence imposed on a Bluff man for making racist comments on Facebook about Diwali will not be enough of a deterrent to other social media racists.

This is according to the SA Hindu Maha Sabha, responding to the R6 000 fine or oneyear imprisonment handed down yesterday by Durban Magistrate Themba Sishi to Dawie Kriel.

This sentence was suspended for five years on condition Kriel is not convicted of a similar offence.

Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the SA Hindu Maha Sabha, said he was not happy with the sentence.

“The suspension of the sen- tence has somewhat diluted the impact that one was looking for in this case.

“We were hoping for a sentence that would send out a strong message to members of the public that racist comments would not be tolerated by the justice system of this country,” said Trikamjee.

During Diwali, Kriel took to Facebook with a post that said: “Same story every year. Despite the outcry about crackers every year and in spite of the ban on the imports, Zuma still gives the Guptas and company the licence to import that s**t by the container load. Profits profits profits!!

“To those idol worshippers and devil disciples who buy them in the name of religion, p**s-off back to your dark hole in the backwoods of India, you *&$h# I could strangle you morons with my bare hands and derive great pleasure in watching your face turn blue and your tongue pop out,” Kriel posted.

Handing down sentence, Sishi said: “The court arrived at the decision that jail time would serve no purpose and considered that he was also a first offender and would not afford to pay the heavy fine.”

“He pleaded guilty and stated the reason why he reacted in the manner that he had was because his dogs were traumatised by the fireworks,” Sishi said.

“The language was hurtful and stereotyping. It evoked shock and disgust in the community. The community outcry and the public interest must be taken into consideration. The rights of Hindus were infringed,” said Sishi.

He said Kriel’s remorse was not genuine because he had apologised only after he was brought to court.

Nadas Pillay, of the SA Tamil Federation, said they would have been satisfied if community service had been included in the sentence.

“That would have given him an opportunity to learn something about other races,” said Pillay.

Bheki Ntuli, the ANC eThekwini region secretary, said they had expected Kriel to spend at least one year in jail.

DA provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango said: “We respect the court’s decision and are just worried about the kind of message that it would send out there.”