POLOKWANE – According to Police Spokesperson WO Lesiba Ramoshaba, reporting racism is a tricky task.
Ramoshaba says in many cases, interviews with people reporting crimes reveal whether an incident is in fact a racist act or a case of crimen injuria, which refers to abusive behaviour.
A number of residents say the issue with reporting racism is that for many, it is not seen as racist if a black person is not involved. Some stating that what counts for one does not count for the other.
An Indian woman and business owner in the city says she has been the victim of racist attacks over the past few years. According to the woman, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of further victimisation, says the first incident took place in 2015, when a street vendor threw tomato sauce at her.
“The problem is that my business sells the same things as a hawker in Excelsior Street,” she told Review. According to the woman, the man accused her of stealing his customers and swore at her. She claims that when she tried to report the incident to the police, she was turned away.
Ramoshaba urges the woman, and others with the same issue, to contact him directly and he will direct them to the right people to handle the case. “Depending on the interview that will be held with the complainant, the police will then open a case, it will be decided there if it is in deed racism or perhaps a case of crimen injuria,” he said.
He further stated the police cannot turn anyone away when reporting a crime, saying it is their duty to protect and serve and nothing else.
He urged people opening a case to stay calm and give all the details in a clear and concise manner because in some cases, police officers have trouble understanding victims when they raise their voices, speak too fast or have strong accents.
Another Indian woman, Merhiam Khala, said she reported a robbery at her shop in the city, but had no police response for three days. She went on to speak about racism saying that words such as “coolies” referring to Indian people, “bushies” referring to coloured people, and “boere” referring to white people are used frequently but are racist terms and people who use these words need to be reprimanded in the same way as people who use the “k” word.
“Racism is against all races and words like these should be banned,” Khala told Review.
