South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to a law that outlaws hate speech and crimes and another that recognises Muslim marriages, his office announced on Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa has assented to the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill which outlaws offences of hate crimes and the offence of hate speech and the prosecution of persons who commit those offences.
“This legislative measure gives effect to South Africa’s obligations in terms of the constitution and international human rights instruments concerning racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in accordance with international law obligations,” Magwenya said in a statement.
The Bill of Rights, in Section 9 of South Africa’s constitution, prohibits direct or indirect unfair discrimination against anyone on the grounds of, race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
Magwenya said the new law provides for the prevention of hate crimes and hate speech, as well as effective enforcement measures and the gathering and recording of data on hate crimes and hate speech.
“A hate crime is committed if a person commits any recognised offence under any law that is motivated by prejudice or intolerance on the basis of one or more characteristics or perceived characteristics of the victim, as listed in the legislation or a family member of the victim.”
The offence of hate speech applies to any person who intentionally publishes, propagates, advocates, shares or communicates anything to one or more persons in a manner that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be harmful or to incite harm and to promote or propagate hatred based on defined grounds.
The law also makes it an offence when speech material is intentionally distributed or made available in electronic communication, and the said person knows that such electronic communication constitutes hate speech.
The law, however, excludes from the ambit of hate speech “anything done in good faith in the course of engagement such as artistic creativity, performance or other form of expression; academic or scientific inquiry; fair and accurate reporting or commentary in the public interest; and interpretation and articulating of any religious conviction, tenet, belief, teaching, doctrine or writings that does not advocate hatred or constitutes incitement to cause harm.”
Magwenya announced that Ramaphosa has also signed into law the Divorce Amendment Bill which amends the Divorce Act of 1979 to recognise Muslim marriages and safeguard the interests of Muslim women and children of Muslim marriages in the event that marriages are dissolved.
The new legislation is a response to an earlier Constitutional Court judgment which recognised the need for and importance of protecting Muslim women and children of Muslim marriages, particularly when a Muslim marriage is dissolved.
“The amended legislation addresses shortcomings in the Divorce Act of 1979 which differentiated between people married in terms of the Marriage Act and people married according to Muslim rites, especially women,” the spokesperson said.
Currently, Muslim couples who choose to marry according to Islamic law can only be afforded the statutory protection of the South African legal system as it pertains to civil spouses if they, in addition to their marriage under Islamic law, register a civil marriage.
The amendments provide for a definition of a Muslim marriage in the Divorce Act of 1979; the protection and safeguarding of the interests of dependent and minor children of a Muslim marriage; the redistribution of assets on the dissolution of a Muslim marriage and forfeiture of patrimonial benefits of a Muslim marriage.
JN/APA