The SACP said it would lay charges against Barlow.
“Given what happened to Chris Hani, we cannot take the utterances lightly”, said SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila.
“Nicole Barlow implicated herself in what happened to Chris Hani, the SACP general secretary who was assassinated in cold blood on April 10 1993. This also suggests they, the 'We' in her tweet, 'missed an opportunity to do' the same to Mantashe.”
Speaking to TimeLIVE, Barlow said the “vitriol and overboard accusations” that her remarks were racist or were a threat of violence towards Mantashe were “ludicrous” and not intended that way.
Barlow said her tweet did not meet the legal threshold of hate speech since the court ruled against AfriForum’s complaint against the EFF that singing Kill the Boer did not amount to hate speech or unfair discrimination.
“If I were to be found guilty for my remark, it would most certainly prove, once and for all, that our justice system is blind,” she said.
“Additionally, in South Africa’s law what is reasonable, fair and can be proven must be read in context. Hidden behind any threat to someone’s safety and life must be intent.
“Was there any intent to provoke and/or cause harm to Mantashe himself by a side comment? There was not. It would be unreasonable to think my comment could in any way harm Mantashe — either directly or indirectly — as he enjoys VIP protection that costs the taxpayers billions each year.”
She wrote an apology on Twitter, saying: “I'm going to do a Jeremy Clarkson — mea culpa. I agree it's grossly hypocritical to criticise Julius Malema for publicly inciting violence and promoting the killing of white farmers (Boers) only for me to turn around and do it as well.
“One should never fall into the trap of engaging with one's enemy through cheap point scoring and insults. I have spent 20 years fighting the ANC and the devastating impact their corruption has had on our environment, and for a split second I allowed my jaded perspective of them to cloud my judgment, and that was wrong.”
Madonsela: ‘What shifted in society to make Nicole Barlow celebrate a racist murder and wish for another?’
Image: JAMES OATWAY Sunday Times.
Advocate and former public protector Thuli Madonsela has weighed in on Nicole Barlow's offensive social media comment, questioning why she was “confidently celebrating a racist murder and loudly wishing for another”.
Barlow, an environmental campaigner and author, commented on a Sunday Times article about mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe snubbing a top-level green energy meeting hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa to instead attend a Cosatu event in Boksburg, saying “we missed an opportunity to do a Chris Hani on him”.
South African Communist Party (SACP) leader Hani was assassinated in 1993 at his home in Boksburg.
Joining the chorus of outrage over Barlow's comment, Madonsela suggested it was time to look at how society had shifted to allow Barlow “confidence” to make such remarks.
“We have to ask ourselves what has shifted in our society to make Nicole Barlow confidently celebrate a racist murder and loudly wish for another.
“Furthermore, what is it in our justice consciousness as a nation that is responsible for the muted condemnation?” asked Madonsela.
Who is Nicole Barlow, according to her social media, and what has she said?
The SACP said it would lay charges against Barlow.
“Given what happened to Chris Hani, we cannot take the utterances lightly”, said SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila.
“Nicole Barlow implicated herself in what happened to Chris Hani, the SACP general secretary who was assassinated in cold blood on April 10 1993. This also suggests they, the 'We' in her tweet, 'missed an opportunity to do' the same to Mantashe.”
Speaking to TimeLIVE, Barlow said the “vitriol and overboard accusations” that her remarks were racist or were a threat of violence towards Mantashe were “ludicrous” and not intended that way.
Barlow said her tweet did not meet the legal threshold of hate speech since the court ruled against AfriForum’s complaint against the EFF that singing Kill the Boer did not amount to hate speech or unfair discrimination.
“If I were to be found guilty for my remark, it would most certainly prove, once and for all, that our justice system is blind,” she said.
“Additionally, in South Africa’s law what is reasonable, fair and can be proven must be read in context. Hidden behind any threat to someone’s safety and life must be intent.
“Was there any intent to provoke and/or cause harm to Mantashe himself by a side comment? There was not. It would be unreasonable to think my comment could in any way harm Mantashe — either directly or indirectly — as he enjoys VIP protection that costs the taxpayers billions each year.”
She wrote an apology on Twitter, saying: “I'm going to do a Jeremy Clarkson — mea culpa. I agree it's grossly hypocritical to criticise Julius Malema for publicly inciting violence and promoting the killing of white farmers (Boers) only for me to turn around and do it as well.
“One should never fall into the trap of engaging with one's enemy through cheap point scoring and insults. I have spent 20 years fighting the ANC and the devastating impact their corruption has had on our environment, and for a split second I allowed my jaded perspective of them to cloud my judgment, and that was wrong.”
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SACP to lay charges against Nicole Barlow, says her utterances 'cannot be taken lightly'
Who is Nicole Barlow, according to her social media, and what has she said?
‘My comment was not hate speech’ — woman responds to ‘racist tweet’ about Mantashe and Hani
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