A South African Court has in a judgment ruled that the public display of the country\’s Apartheid-era flag amounted to hate speech, discriminated against Black People, and violated equality laws.
The case pertains to a 2017 protest by white, Afrikaner nationalist groups against attacks on farmers, during which the Apartheid flag was displayed. In response to a public outcry against the action, the Nelson Mandela Foundation applied to the court seeking an order declaring the “gratuitous display” of the flag as constituting hate speech, unfair discrimination and racial harassment.
The court upheld the request. However, Afrikaner lobby groups contend the banning of the flag encroaches on the freedom of expression provisions in the country\’s constitution. Introduced by the National Party in 1948, apartheid institutionalized racial segregation in South Africa for almost half of a century until it was outlawed in 1994.
