S/African judge under fire for saying rape was part of black culture

Cape Town – In the latest race row to rock South Africa, a senior white judge is under fire for implying that the act of rape was part of black culture. Gauteng High Court Judge, Mabel Jansen, said that she was unfairly accused of being a racist after comments she posted on Facebook went viral. Jansen said that her comments were taken out of context, and that she was referring specifically to rape cases she had heard in court. “In their culture, a woman is there to pleasure them,” she said. In another Facebook post, she said “99 per cent of criminal cases I hear is of black fathers, uncles, and brothers raping children as young as five years old.’’ The Women’s League of the ruling African National Congress on Monday called on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to see whether Jansen should be removed for her comments. League spokesperson, Meokgo Matuba, described the comments as purely racist and a misrepresentation of facts about black culture. The official opposition, Democratic Alliance (DA), said that it intended to report Jansen to the JSC and wanted the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate her. “The judge’s comments that rape is part of black culture are not only hurtful and demeaning, but fundamentally undermine the dignity of our people. “In doing so, violates the Constitution,” DA Member of Parliament, Glynnis Breytenbach, said. She said that racism offended the very pillars of “our democracy and undermines the vision of Nelson Mandela that South Africa is one nation, united in our diversity, belonging to all who live in it”. There have been other major racism rows involving social media in recent months. A Durban estate agent is in hiding after referring to black South Africans as monkeys in a Facebook message in January. Penny Sparrow, who was complaining about the litter on Durban’s beaches received death threats. Shortly afterwards, respected economist, Chris Hart, fuelled the flames when he rushed to Sparrow’s defence. He wrote on twitter as follow “more than 25 years after Apartheid ended, the victims are increasing along with a sense of entitlement and hatred towards minorities.’’ Last week, a Cape Town man came under fire for a racial attack on Sports and Recreation Minister, Fikile Mbalula, on Facebook.