/ 6 June 2011

Qwelane fights hate speech judgment

Qwelane Fights Hate Speech Judgment

South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda, Jon Qwelane, will apply for rescission of a judgment in which he was found guilty of hate speech, his lawyers said on Monday.

“The application will state that Qwelane was not in wilful default of the Equality Court, as he was in Kampala on public service on the date of the hearing,” Andrew Boerner, of Jurgens Bekker Attorneys, said in a statement.

Qwelane, a former Sunday Sun columnist, was found guilty of hate speech by the Johannesburg Equality Court last Tuesday. The court found that an article and cartoon in his column propagated hatred and harm. As a result of his work, homosexuals had experienced emotional pain and suffering.

The article was published in the newspaper on July 20 2008, under the headline: “Call me names, but gay is NOT okay.”

Qwelane’s column (PDF)

Read the full text of Jon Qwelane’s column in the Sunday Sun

Boerner said that although the article was controversial, it was not an incitement to violence.

‘Inflammatory’
In the article, Qwelane refused to withdraw or apologise for his views. He also refused to write a letter to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) explaining his thoughts.

The court ruled that, as Qwelane was not present at the hearing and it had only one version of the story, the SAHRC’s argument would be accepted.

He was ordered to make an unconditional apology to the gay and lesbian community in the Sunday Sun newspaper and another national newspaper.

He was also ordered to pay R100 000 to the SAHRC for awareness and education of gay and lesbian rights.

Activists called the article “irresponsible” and “inflammatory”.

Press ombudsman Joe Thloloe received more than 1 000 complaints, and the SAHRC more than 300.

In his ruling on the article, Thloloe said it “did not advocate hatred, but merely stated his views on homosexuality and was not calling for harming of gays and lesbians”.

Boerner said Qwelane was entitled to freedom of expression, a right for all South Africans “protected and enshrined in the Constitution”.

Papers for the application to have the judgment annulled would be delivered to court within the next two weeks.

Positive message
SAHRC spokesperson Vincent Moaga said last week following the ruling: “We are quite pleased that the court has found in our favour … R100 000 is quite a reasonable amount.”

“The focus is not on the money, but the message coming out of this. With recent hate speech and crimes against the community, the court is sending positive messages,” he said.

Qwelane did not make much of an appearance during the course of the trial. He failed to sign court papers presented to him by a clerk and did not file responding papers. — Sapa