South African woman Vicki Momberg was this week sentenced to three years imprisonment after racially abusing black police officers in 2016.
In what is being described as a landmark ruling, the 49-year-old real estate agent was sentenced to three years in prison by the Randburg Magistrate’s Court, with one year suspended, according to EWN.
Momberg, whose racist rant was caught on camera and went viral, verbally assaulted police officers who were trying to help her after she was the victim of a crime in which thieves broke into her car in Johannesburg.
The convicted racist made repetitive use of a very offensive word that is unfamiliar to most people outside of South Africa, but is highly-charged within the South African context due to its derogatory use during the apartheid era.
As a result of her offensive actions in 2016, she was found guilty on four counts of crimen injuria in November last year, according to News24.
Crimen injuria is defined as a wilful injury to someone’s dignity, caused by the use of obscene or racially offensive language or gestures. Momberg’s rant involved four police officers, hence the four counts of crimen injuria.
In the video, a white police officer can be seen trying to calm Momberg, saying, “I’m not going to allow you to insult my colleagues like that.” The attempt to calm her was futile, however, as she continued with her rant.
Sentencing was passed on Wednesday, and Momberg became the first person in South Africa to be imprisoned for using racist language against another person, the NYTimes reports.
Magistrate Pravina Rugoonandan denied Momberg bail after the sentencing, and she was sent straight to jail to begin her two-year imprisonment, with a suspended third year dependent on her future actions.
In handing down sentencing, magistrate Rugoonandan said that all people have a right to dignity which needs to be respected and protected. She added that the police officers that attempted to assist Momberg were in their uniform, ready to serve, and Momberg’s racial abuse stripped the officers of their dignity, injuring them criminally.
Reacting to the sentencing, Neeshan Balton, executive director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, an anti-racism group named after one of Nelson Mandela’s close friends and fellow freedom fighters, said that the ruling would serve to deter racism.
“Past racists who have come to court have been given very small fines and have been treated very leniently, and it didn’t serve any deterrence,” said Balton, according to VoiceOnline. “I think this will be a deterrent,” Balton added.
The South African government has drafted a bill that aims to define hate speech as a criminal offence, making it punishable under the law.
