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White woman jailed for insulting black people

The estate agent, Vicki Momberg’s imprisonment follows her unwarranted verbal attack on the said police officer who tried to help her after she had been attacked by thieves at night in a shopping center.

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According to Reuters news report, the convict rejected the police officer’s offer of help, saying she would rather accept a white man’s help or that of an Indian.

She was quoted as having added that blacks were “plain and simple useless” and “they are clueless, clueless”.

In a video clip that went viral, the convict was also seen referring to the police officer as “kaffir”, an offensive word in South Africa which connotes hatred against blacks.

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In previous cases bothering on racial abuse or hate speech, convicts were fined, but Vicki Momberg has been handed a custodian sentence which has been described by some people as unprecedented in the history of South Africa.

Justice Minister, Michael Masutha said the custodian sentence was meant to deter others from engaging in racism and hate speech.

He was quoted as having told eNCA television that: “It was a question of escalating and intensifying the fight against racism by finding even sterner measures.”

The Reuters also quoted Johannesburg-based criminal lawyer, Zola Majavu as saying: “This case has been put on the spotlight, it may be the first time - at least that I’m aware of - that a person has been sentenced to jail without the option of a fine for such action.”

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Racism is really a big issue South African authorities have been grappling with 24 years after Nelson  Mandela became the first black man to have been elected as president of the country.

In the case of two white farmers were seen in October last year pushing a black man into a coffin as he cried for help, they were prosecuted and imprisoned for attempted murder, assault and kidnapping.

South Africa has a population of 54 million people of which black people constitute about 80%, while whites are about 8%.

However, due to the yawning wealth gap between the blacks and the whites who control the country’s wealth there is hardly any respect for the black people in their own land.

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