The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is to announce its findings on complaints lodged against Sport and Recreation Minister Ngconde Balfour and former Cape Town mayor Peter Marais on Thursday.
The complaint against Balfour was lodged by United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa on November 4, following widespread media coverage of his alleged statements about white players on the national cricket side. Holomisa contended that the remarks amounted to hate speech.
According to the minutes of a meeting between Balfour and the United Cricket Board (UCB) soon after its July 7 decision to scrap the quota system, Balfour allegedly said, among other things, that he preferred watching black cricketers play, and white players meant ”nothing” to him.
One of those he named was all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
The minutes of the meeting were made available to the media in Johannesburg on October 31, as Balfour released the report of the ministerial committee of inquiry into cricket’s transformation at Parliament in Cape Town.
Balfour has denied the statements attributed to him.
The complaint about Marais was made in June by one Andre du Plessis in his private capacity, and relates to allegedly homophobic, religiously insensitive and unconstitutional statements.
In a statement on Wednesday, the SAHRC said it would announce its findings on both matters at a press briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday.
”The Commission will also take this opportunity to announce its stance on freedom of expression in general and in relation to the above-mentioned matters,” the statement said. – Sapa