ANC to protest as Penny Sparrow pleas for leniency

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is planning to protest outside the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court‚ where the party believed controversial realtor Penny Sparrow would appear on Thursday.

According to a statement released by the ANC‚ Sparrow had approached the court in an attempt to “appeal her sentence”.

It would appear that the appeal is related to the fine levied against Sparrow by the Equality Court‚ which ruled in June last year that she must pay R150 000 to the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation for making racist comments on Facebook.

At the time‚ Magistrate Irfaan Khalil said the amount had to be paid within 60 days and he interdicted Sparrow from engaging in further hate speech.

Sparrow sparked anger with a controversial Facebook post in which she likened black beach goers to monkeys.

Sparrow’s daughter‚ Charmaine Cowie‚ told TimesLIVE that her mother was destitute and could not pay the fine. She had made an appeal to the court to extend the terms of payment beyond two months.

She said her mother would likely not appear before court as she remained in hiding in Johannesburg.

The ANC said the latest court hearing was a “clear indication that she has no remorse on her racial statements against black people”.

“The ANC calls on people of this country to stand up against all forms of racism that is peddled by the likes of Sparrow in our society. Members of the ANC will protest outside Umzinto Magistrate’s court demanding that the court affirms the previous judgment ordering the racist Sparrow to pay her fine.”