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Penny Sparrow apologises for comparing black people to monkeys on Facebook

Retired KwaZulu-Natal estate agent Penny Sparrow apologised in court on Monday for comparing black people to monkeys on Facebook.

The 68-year-old appeared before magistrate Vincent Hlatshwayo in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s court on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast on Monday where she pleaded guilty to a charge of crimen injuria.

She was fined R5‚000 or 12 months imprisonment‚ in addition to two years’ imprisonment suspended for five years on condition she does not commit a similar offence‚ and had to tender a public and Facebook apology for her January Facebook post where she called black people monkeys.

 In her apology read in court‚ a tearful Sparrow said: “I wish to make a public apology for my thoughtless behaviour. I have hurt the feelings of my fellow South Africans. I realise that what I have done is wrong. I am very sorry. It is difficult to put into words the regret I feel. I will from now strive to be a better citizen‚ respecting others and working towards making our country a better place to live in‚ a place where we are accepting of each other‚ a place we can all call home. I accept that by comparing black people to monkeys in my Facebook post earlier this year I have impaired the dignity of African people.”

Hlatshwayo said the offence was of a serious nature and has history that reminds blacks of the past‚ what they lived

through and had gone through.

“The society of South Africa rejected your conduct on the day in question.”

 

 

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