Statements attributed to Sport Minister Ngconde Balfour during a meeting on cricket quotas were undesirable whether he made them or not, human rights commissioners said on Thursday.
SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) chairman Jody Kollapen said the comments attributed to Balfour fell short of the requirements of hate speech and it could not be said that they constitute racist speech.
”The SAHRC is, however, of the view that regardless of whether the minister did indeed utter these remarks, remarks and utterances of this nature are not in accordance with the core values of dignity, equality and freedom, which inform our Bill of Rights,” he told reporters in Johannesburg.
Kollapen said the SAHRC was, however, not making a finding of fact as there were disputes on the document which contained those comments. Therefore, the SAHRC was not in a position to make findings on precisely what was said by whom at that meeting, Kollapen said.
”The answer to these questions will require the commission to embark on an inquiry at which some 16 to 20 witnesses need to be called with the intended outcome of making credibility findings and pronouncing on the veracity of the documents.”
He said the SAHRC could not justify the launching of a formal inquiry into the alleged statements based on the information on its hands.
The SAHRC was responding to complaints lodged by United Democratic Movement president Bantu Holomisa following the release of minutes in which Balfour allegedly made racist comments.
In the minutes, released to the media last month, it was alleged that Balfour expressed his preference for watching black cricketers Paul Adams and Makhaya Ntini rather than their white counterparts — Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis.
Holomisa contended that the remarks amounted to hate speech. However, there was a grey area about what constituted ”hate speech”, Kollapen said.
One of the constituents of hate speech was ”advocacy for hatred based on race”, he said referring to the Constitution.
”There are no easy answers. We would like to believe that these issues should be debated,” he said, adding that public figures should be careful of what they say in public.
Responding to the SAHRC findings, Holomisa said the UDM welcomed the findings of the commission and called on Balfour to apologise.
”The minister must apologise now. The (SA)HRC has, unfortunately, run away from its responsibility to properly investigate this matter by already claiming that the alleged comments are not hate speech and racism,” he said in a statement.
”The UDM believes when people in public office make such comments it cannot be called anything but racism. Why do the (SA)HRC not investigate this matter with the same enthusiasm that they poured into the Racism in the Media investigation?”
He said transformation in sport was necessary, but Balfour should not treat the boardrooms of sport federations like a ”bull in a china shop”.
Balfour, said in response: ”I hope that those who sought publicity on the back of gossip and malice will also now come out publicly and commit themselves to contributing to the transformation of sport.”
He said he would continue discussions with the United Cricket Board of SA (UCBSA) on the findings of a commission of inquiry that investigated transformation in cricket.
Sport gatherings on transformation in sport were planned for each province. The first such meeting took place in the Eastern Cape last month and the Western Cape was to follow on November 29, he said. – Sapa