Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Adoption of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill welcomed

17/03/2023

Adoption of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill welcomedThe passage of the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill in the National Assembly has been lauded as a major milestone

by Mambaonline.com

17-03-2023 09:46

in LGBTQIA

Adoption of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill welcomed. Photo: Mambonline

The Bill, a version of which was approved by Cabinet in 2018, was adopted by MPs on Tuesday, with 237 voting in favour and 79 against.

--

The legislation will next go to the National Council of Provinces for approval before being sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for his signature.

ALSO READ: Becoming returns with the House of Diamonds

Several parties, including the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party, were opposed to the Bill on various grounds, including fears it could restrict freedom of speech.

--

If it becomes law, the Bill will recognise a hate crime as one motivated by the perpetrator's prejudice or intolerance towards the victim based on their actual or perceived protected characteristics.

These include their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or sex characteristics, in addition to numerous others such as age, disability, race, and religion.

ALSO READ: Did you know? Fact of the Day - Friday, 17 March 2023

--

The Bill will require these incidents to be recorded as hate crimes, which activists hope will result in a better understanding of the nature and scope of the problem to develop successful interventions.

Hate crimes and hate speech are an ongoing scourge in South Africa. The Bill will also make hate speech a criminal offence. This is defined as any form of communication and distribution thereof (including on social media) that has a clear intention to be harmful or incite harm, or promote or propagate hatred.

ALSO READ: Guinness World Records: Heaviest radish

There are several exclusions such as artistic creativity, performance or expression; academic or scientific inquiry; journalism in the public interest; and religious convictions or beliefs (except where there is incitement to cause harm).

Penalties for both hate crimes and hate speech include fines, correctional supervision and/or imprisonment for up to eight years.

The Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG) - a coalition of civil society organisations from a variety of sectors and disciplines - welcomed the adoption of the Bill, noting that it has been advocating for a hate crime law since 2009.

This is a major milestone and we congratulate the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on the adoption of the Bill, said Sibusiso Khasa from Amnesty International South Africa, who chairs the HCWG. With the recent spike in hate crimes particularly against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and LGBTIQ communities, it is more urgent than ever.

OUT LGBT Well-being also applauded the National Assembly for passing the Bill, saying it puts the country in line with several other democracies that have similar legislation.

ALSO READ: Nearly 600 families share 8 toilets in a temporary relocation area

Hate crimes and hate speech are an ongoing scourge in South Africa. They are distinct from other crimes in that they are not only targeted at individuals but also the groups to which they belong, said Lerato Phalakatshela, OUT's Human Rights Manager.

While not being a cure-all, we believe that the Bill will play a valuable role in curtailing these human rights violations against the LGBTIQ and other communities, he added.

OUT urged the National Assembly and President Ramaphosa to ensure that the Bill is promptly made law.

The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill can be found here.

Article by Luiz De Barros

This article was initially published on MAMBAonlie.com

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY Mambaonline.com

ALX is offering fully sponsored placements to four internationally recognised tech programmes, no experience required. REGISTER HERE!
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/lgbtqia/adoption-of-hate-crime...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

04/02/2026

Vinten Launches Vega Lite PTZ Control System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/02/2026

Chyron to Provide Graphics, Virtual Sets for Winter Olympics Coverage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/02/2026

NBC Sports Taps Appear for 2026 Winter Olympics Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/02/2026

Katie Vitolins Announced as Vice President of Alumni Products and Services

Katie Vitolins Announced as Vice President of Alumni Products and Services An alumna and former trustee, Vitolins will lead the relaunch of Berklee's alum...

03/02/2026

Tagboard's New Partner Development Kit Turns Complex Third-Party Integrations into Instant Graphics

Tagboard, a modern, interactive graphics system for news, sports, and entertainm...

03/02/2026

SNS Launches New S3-Compatible Cloud Storage Service

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) announces the launch of Trio, a new S3-compatible cloud storage service fully integrated with EVO for media backup, archival, and...

03/02/2026

NEP Group Running at Full-Scale This Month in Support of Major International Events

50 Production Trucks at center of 160 U.S.-based productions...

03/02/2026

Nielsen Launches Co-Viewing Pilot Program to Further Enhance TV Measurement

Nielsen, which specializes in audience measurement, data, and media intelligence, announces that it is piloting a new methodology enhancement to more accurately...

03/02/2026

NBC Sports Relies on Appear X Platform for Winter Games

Appear's X Platform will be used by NBC Sports to deliver video compression, satellite modulation and transport stream aggregation for its production of the...

03/02/2026

Behind The Mic: NBC Sports Unveils Presentation Cast for Super Bowl LX as Part of Legendary February

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

03/02/2026

NHL Network to Take Fans Rinkside as NHL Players Return to Winter Olympic Games

NHL Network announces its comprehensive programming schedule for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, underscoring the highly anticipated return of NHL players to...

03/02/2026

Canon Lenses Power NBC Coverage of Milano Cortina Winter Games

NBC Sports has chosen Canon to deliver 115 Canon UHD broadcast lenses for its production of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Canon will also send suppo...

03/02/2026

NBC Sports Selects Audio-Technica for Vital Winter Games Role

Audio-Technica equipment will be used by NBC Sports to deliver much of its audio capture requirements across all sporting venues for its production of the 2026 ...

03/02/2026

Cisco VXLAN Makes Olympic Debut for NBC Sports

NBC Sports will use Cisco to deliver AI networking technology for its all-IP production of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, including the deployment of...

03/02/2026

Chyron PRIME CG Drives NBC Sports Winter Games Graphics

NBC Sports will utilize Chyron PRIME CG to produce live broadcast graphics to display names, athlete information, scores, statistics, leaderboards, headshots an...

03/02/2026

NBC Sports Relies on Grass Valley for Winter Games Signal Conversion, Routing, Orchestration

NBC Sports will utilize Grass Valley to deliver advanced signal conversion, rout...

03/02/2026

Planar Supplies LED Wall Technology for NBC Sports Winter Games Coverage

NBC Sports will utilize Planar to deliver leading-edge fine pixel pitch LED video wall technology for its production of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics...

03/02/2026

FOX Sports Wraps Run Airing Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Taking place in two venues, the 2026 production celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the Super Bowl of Dogs' When the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show conc...

03/02/2026

ESPN To Broadcast 2026 NFL Pro Bowl Games Live From San Francisco's Convention Center

For the indoor production, NEP Specialty Capture has mounted a 100-ft. overhead ...

03/02/2026

Inside League One Volleyball: Mobile TV Group Drives Broadcasts via Onsite Support, Remotely From Mountain Media Center

MTVG Edge, the production-services supplier's software-based production solu...

03/02/2026

Inside League One Volleyball: CMO Raquel Braun on Partnering With Omaha Productions, Mobile TV Group

In the league's second year, new partnerships enhance broadcast quality for ...

03/02/2026

NBC Sports Taps Ross Video's Rocket Surgery for Virtual and AR at 2026 Winter Games

Rocket Surgery will showcase the combined creative strength of Ross Video, with ...

03/02/2026

Sony Supplies 100+ Cameras, 500 Monitors, and More for NBC's Winter Olympics Coverage

NBC Sports will utilize Sony Electronics to deliver imaging, monitoring, and tec...

03/02/2026

NBC Sports Selects SMT to Handle Results, Timing, and Production Data Services for Milano-Cortina 2026

SMT will provide TVI (broadcast television interface) support services for figur...

03/02/2026

Spotify Celebrates the 2026 Best New Artist Nominees During a Star-Studded Party in LA

Spotify's annual Best New Artist celebration returned to Los Angeles last ni...

03/02/2026

The smash-hit series The Hospital: In the Deep End returns to shine a spotlight on the real-life heroes of our healthcare system

The smash-hit series The Hospital: In the Deep End returns to shine a spotlight ...

03/02/2026

Introducing: FoMa Antares

FoMa Antares: Redefining Camera Stabilization for Modern ProductionsIn high-end broadcast and cinematic environments, precision, reliability, and flexibility ar...

03/02/2026

Viper Shield Flight Tests Accelerates Delivery with New Digital Electronic Warfare Capability

Viper Shield's robust phase of flight-testing production representative hard...

03/02/2026

L3Harris: A Strategic Partner for National Vigilance and Regional Peace

Countries throughout the Indo-Pacific have made the ability to defend their people and sovereign borders a top priority, but no single nation can monitor every ...

03/02/2026

L3Harris Achieves Record-Breaking Fuzing Delivery Milestone

U.S. Marine loads a round in an 81 mm mortar system during an exercise. (Credit: U.S. Marines)...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Targets Need for Multiple Video Feeds with openGear 9905MPx Multi-Channel Processor

9905MPx Card features unprecedented level of density with four independent signa...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Wins Three 2021 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards

Champaign, IL - November 15, 2021 - Cobalt Digital, announced today that three of its products have received 2021 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. Cobalt, ...

03/02/2026

LOG4J Does Not Affect Cobalt Digital Products

Cobalt is pleased to confirm that Log4j vulnerability does NOT affect ANY Cobalt products including the HPF-9000 frame. Given the recent concerns regarding wi...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Digital's Launch of +UDX-Dante-1616 Introduces First License-based 12G-SDI Bridge to Dante Audio

Software-based embedding and de-embedding solution will be highlighted at NAB 20...

03/02/2026

Cobalt to Show New Line-up of EO/OE 12G Mini-Convertor BBG Boxes at NAB

Series developed to fill an industry need. Champaign, IL April 13, 2022 Cobalt Digital will introduce a new series of BlueBox Group (BBG) EO/OE 12G mini...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Takes Home Four Awards from NAB 2022

Company receives Best in Shows from Next TV and TVB Europe, and two Product of the Year awards from NAB Champaign, IL - May 6, 2022 - Cobalt Digital Inc. head...

03/02/2026

Cobalt to Participate in Several Events in and Around IBC 2022

IBC Stand 10.B44Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt Dr. Ciro Noronha, CTO, tapped as a panelist and speaker by many - and then there's the party! Amsterda...

03/02/2026

Company Announces Changes in Sales and Engineering Team Just in Time for IBC

IBC Stand 10.B44Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt Growth Drives Cobalt Digital to Promote Dr. Ciro Noronha to CTO, and Appoint Anthony Tan as Director of Sale...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Targets Top Trends at NAB NY with Solutions that Support IP, 4K ST 2110, HDR, RIST, Dante and Internet Security.

IBC Stand 10.B44Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt Dr. Ciro Noronha, CTO, tappe...

03/02/2026

Cobalt is Bringing an Award-Winning Portfolio of New Products to CABSAT 2023

Manufacturer plans also include solutions that provide a path to the cloud and redundancy updatesCABSAT Stand S1-I42Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt Dubai - ...

03/02/2026

Cobalt Announces Presence at ANGA COM 2023

Award-Winning Product Portfolio is Being Presented on Smart Video Group Stand, and Company's Berend Blokzijl is Scheduled to Share RIST Insight on Innovatio...

03/02/2026

COBALT Announces an IBC Line-up that Features IP Products and Extends 12-G Support Options

NEW Location IBC Stand 10.F42 Same Hall, NEW StandJournalists: Click to visi...

03/02/2026

TVBEurope: Understanding the RIST series of Specifications

TVBEurope spoke with our very own Dr. Ciro Noronha about RIST and more.Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) is growing in popularity for contribution and d...

03/02/2026

IBC 2023: COBALT has 12G Covered with Multiple openGEAR Cards and New Form Factor Solutions

NEW Location IBC Stand 10.F42 Same Hall, NEW StandJournalists: Click to visi...

03/02/2026

Catch the COBALT WAVE of New Routers and Control Panels at IBC

NEW Location IBC Stand 10.F42 Same Hall, NEW StandJournalists: Click to visit CobaltCatch Cobalt's Blue WAVE of Innovation in a New LocationHighlights t...