Woman arrested over WhatsApp rant

Belinda Magor, the woman behind the voice note on a WhatsApp group calling for the killing of black men and removal of reproductive organs of black women, has been arrested. This was confirmed by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. ‘Thank you so much SAPS (South African Police Services) for her arrest, truly appreciate the swiftness #BelindaMagorArrested,’ Lesufi tweeted. SowetanLIVE reports that Magor could be heard saying that black men were ‘worse than pitbulls’. ‘Ban the black man. They rape, steal, and kill, worse than any pitbull could, and they get away with it. Ban those that are making the laws, ban Ekurhuleni, ban the black man,’ said the voice note. Her outburst came during a discussion about the spate of attacks that pitbulls have been waging on children in recent weeks, which led to some people calling for the total ban of the breed as pets.

Human Rights Commission boss André Guam described the incident as ‘horrific and deplorable’. An IoL report notes that Guam said Magor’s remarks were tantamount to hate speech. ‘It no doubt constitutes prima facie hate speech of the worst possible kind. As a result, the Commission’s Gauteng provincial office is assessing the matter and a decision is pending to either investigate it or take it to the Equality Court. The court could also be approached to refer the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible prosecution,’ said Guam. Magor has since blamed her racist rant on the ‘Pitbull lovers’ WhatsApp group on her diabetes. ‘I’m diabetic. When your sugar is out of whack, which happens quite often, you don’t think clearly. You can’t focus. There’s like a cloud over your mind,’ she has been quoted as saying.

Full IoL report

Full report on the SowetanLIVE site