South Africa's ANC Mulls Tougher Laws to Criminalize Racism
- ANC's parliament chief whip says current laws not sufficient
- Constitution protects freedom of expression, bans hate speech
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South Africa’s ruling party is seeking to strengthen laws to criminalize racist speech after a woman described black people on social media as animals, sparking a public outcry.
Current laws aren’t sufficient to “punish and dissuade racists,” the African National Congress’s chief whip in Parliament, Stone Sizani, said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. “We will soon investigate creating a specific law or amending the existing legislation to ensure that acts of racism and promotion of apartheid are criminalized and punishable by imprisonment.”