A CHARGE of crimen injuria has been laid against Bluff Facebook user, Dawie Kriel by the Democratic Alliance (DA) after racist comments he posted about Indians on the social platform went viral over the weekend.
His vitriolic rant about the conduct of fireworks users on the Hindu community during Diwali celebrations angered thousands of Facebook users who shared his damning status which referred to the Hindus as ‘idol worshippers’ and ‘devil disciples’. He then adds Hindus should go back to India and described in detail how he would like to deal with them.
Kriel apologised on Facebook and on a radio station for his racist post on Monday saying, “I posted some remarks in anger yesterday and I would like to apologise. Anger is not an excuse and I realise the foolishness of my remarks and it was uncalled for. Once again my sincere apologies and I will undertake to promote Diwali in a positive no-bangs manner. Kriel said he was “so emotional” when he made the post and deleted it as soon as possible but it already went viral. “I regret it. I understand the pain and anger as long as they can understand my pain and anger when I worked with all these animals,” he said in a radio interview.
The DA called on all South Africans to stand together to fight against racism by condemning the attitudes of the few who seek to divide.
“This language has no place in our Constitutional democracy, where the right to religious freedom is enshrined in our Bill of Rights. It is disgustingly hateful and fundamentally undermines the dignity of many South Africans.The DA will accordingly lay a charge of crimen injuria against Mr Kriel. We also welcome the decision by the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the matter. We look forward to the report being made public as soon as it is complete. South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our beautiful diversity,” said Haniff Hoosen, MP DA KZN Chairman.
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