Momberg to appeal Equality Court ruling on hate speech

Vicky Momberg‚ the woman who called a police officer a k-----‚ will appeal an Equality Court order directing her to pay the policeman R100,000 in damages.

Jacquie Cassette‚ of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr‚ which represented Constable Clement Mkhondo and second applicant South African Human Rights Commission‚ confirmed that Momberg had indicated that she will appeal the court ruling.

“She has until the end of business day today [Friday] to lodge her appeal. It’s not entirely clear which parts of the judgment she appealing against‚” Cassette said.

Early this month the Equality Court found that Momberg's utterances constituted hate speech.

If Momberg fails to lodge her appeal by Friday‚ Mkhondo’s lawyers will enforce the order.

“We will have to take the necessary steps to enforce the order‚” said Cassette.

She said Momberg will have to find a legal representative for her appeal because her previous lawyer‚ Joe Davidovitz‚ is no longer representing her.

In addition to the R100,000 payment the court ordered Momberg to make an "unconditional" written apology to Mkhondo‚to publish the apology on social media platforms and on the Human Rights Commission's website.

Momberg was also ordered to attend equality sensitivity training offered by the commission and to undergo community service for 100 hours.

Momberg launched into an unprovoked tirade of racial abuse directed at Mkhondo following a smash-and-grab incident in February last year‚ invoking the k-word more than 40 times.