Most adult South Africans frown on using derogatory terms and racist or inflammatory language, a survey released on Tuesday found.
The telephone study conducted by Research Surveys was among a sample of 500 adults in metropolitan areas who had access to a landline telephone at the end of October.
Probing the attitudes of South Africans towards hate speech, respondents were initially asked whether ”kill the farmer” or ”kill the boer” constituted hate speech.
A large majority, 74%, felt this was hate speech, with Africans scoring 68%, whites 86%, coloureds 63% and Indians 83%.
The survey found little ambivalence on this issue, with 23% disagreeing and only 3% saying ”don’t know”.
People were also asked to agree or disagree with the following statement: ”Because of freedom of expression in this country, it is okay to call anybody any name”.
Again, their was ”overwhelming” disagreement with this statement, with 7% agreeing, 91% disagreeing and only 2% undecided.
The sample found no differences in any demographic group on this issue.
In fact, respondents took quite a hard line over the use of a derogatory racist term, with 75% feeling those who used it should be fined or imprisoned. Twenty-two percent disagreed and only 3% were ambivalent.
The survey noted as interesting that younger people (the 18- to 24-year-olds) felt more strongly, with 85% taking the view that people using such terms should be fined or imprisoned.
There were notable differences between population groups, with 84% of Africans agreeing, whites 63%, coloureds 73% and Indians 83%.
Respondents were also asked to agree or disagree with the following statement: ”It is not right to label or blame a whole group of people for the actions of just a few of them.”
This statement attracted 70% agreement, with 29% disagreeing and under half a percent saying ”don’t know”.
Given the differences across race groups on the other question, it is interesting that wealthier people and whites were more likelyto agree with this statement.Africans registered 64%, whites 79%, coloureds 65% and Indians 68%.
Those with a monthly household income of over R10 000, recorded 82% agreement, and those with a monthly household income of R3 500 or less, 60%. – Sapa