Under South African law Crimen injuria is a crime where one purposely and seriously injures the dignity of another by using negative language to insult them and make them feel bad. In the 1700s Dutch masters used to call a slave jong – for a young man, the derogatory term meit for a young woman, and collectively called them kaffirs. For those who do not know, the word kaffir actually means heathen. What this means is that the white masters believed that Muslims, coloreds and blacks have no God and that they, the white settlers were a superior race.
Don’t call me colored - As crimen Injuria is hard to define, here is an example that illustrates the offence. When Mark Fuhman in the OJ Simpson case referred to OJ by using the ‘n’ word, he was ostracized and raked over the coals, but not really punished. In South Africa he would have been charged for Crimen Injuria. South Africans have had enough of the past and there is zero tolerance for labelling people and calling them coloreds, blacks, Pakis, you Indians, you Muslims, you Bushmen – and a slew of profanities. There is zero tolerance for those who commit these acts. Apartheid is over; people want to be treated with respect. South Africans are not living in the past. You use the ‘n’ word and
the ‘f’ word, you pay.
Report a Crimen Injuria offence – This writer had an incident with a lawyer some years back where the conversation over a house deal closing got heated up and she was referred to as a ‘f’ Muslim’. The incident was reported. If you don’t have laws, you can’t stop the problem. The law is simple in that you cannot use racially offensive language or cause emotional or psychological abuse to others. The numbers have shown a marked difference in behavior and there are fewer cases reported.
Statistics - Currently, the numbers have dropped in Gauteng but increased in the Western Cape. The annual crime statistics report show 31,858 cases of Crimen Injuria during April 2011 and March of this year; 1450 cases less than the previous year. In the Western Cape prosecution for the use of racially-offensive language rose by more than 11 per cent from 7337 in 2010 to 8185 last year. According to the report cases of Crimen Injuria in the Western Cape was higher than any other province in the country.