According to the civil rights organisation AfriForum, the ANC’s proposed Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (the bill) complies with the same basic elements that were argued against apartheid by the ANC in the 1970s in order to declare it as a crime against humanity.

The details of the bill are not yet known, but the ANC already made it clear that the bill is aimed at criminalising “racism or any act which glorifies apartheid” and that imprisonment will be imposed on offenders.

Ernst Roets, AfriForum’s Deputy CEO, said that racism is like a cancer which is in contravention of peaceful coexistence, mutual acknowledgement and social cohesion, and that it needs to be combatted.

“However, if people are going to be thrown in prison left and right, it will most definitely not bring this country closer to a solution.”

Roets further explained that the ANC’s declared purpose with the bill aligns nearly word for word with the text of the Suppression of Communism Act which was passed by the National Party (NP) in 1950. This act and the application thereof was one of the biggest motives behind apartheid being declared a crime against humanity during the Cold War.

“The Suppression of Communism Act criminalised the promotion of communism and the glorification thereof could have led to imprisonment. According to the ANC, the act was also used to silence the critics of Government’s political programme. The NP government argued that they were doing the right thing, seeing as their intentions were pure and communism was evil,” explained Roets.

“The ANC’s bill is aimed at criminalising the promotion of apartheid and the glorification thereof can lead to imprisonment. This act will without a doubt also be used to silence the critics of Government’s political programme. In this case as well, the ANC is of the opinion that they are doing the right thing, because their intentions are pure and apartheid is evil.”