Settlement reached in singer's hate speech case

Afrikaans singer Sunette Bridges has reached a settlement with the SA Human Rights Commission in the hate speech case it lodged against her in the Equality Court.

The commission had accused Bridges of hosting hate speech commentary on her Facebook page. The case was billed as a test on what constitutes hate speech on social media.

It was not immediately clear why Bridges had a change of heart after talks to settle the matter out of court collapsed last week and she indicated that she was prepared to defend the claims against her in court.

Bridges is popular Afrikaans singer Bles Bridges’ daughter and a prominent member of the “Red October” movement‚ which seeks to publicise the murder of whites as “genocide”.

She runs a news service on Facebook‚ which she call the Sunette Bridges News Page‚ about news and events related to the Afrikaans community.

Lawrence Mushwana‚ the chairman of the rights commission‚ mounted the legal challenge against Bridges in the Equality Court‚ which sitting in the Cape Town High Court‚ after receiving complaints about the alleged racist content on her Facebook pages.

Bridges turned down the commission’s offer of an out of court settlement when the matter was first heard in January. She maintained that she could not be held liable for what other people posted on her Facebook profile.

But HRC spokesman‚ Isaac Mangena‚ announced yesterday that parties had reached a settlement. Mangena said Judge Siraj Desai had made the agreement an order of court.

“According to the court order‚ Ms Bridges must regularly monitor her Facebook pages and remove any content that amounts to hate speech‚ harassment‚ or the inciting of violence‚” Mangena said.

“Ms. Bridges must further post messages on her Facebook pages in both English and Afrikaans‚ distancing herself from any form of hate speech and harassment. She is further obliged to warn users of the content of the Court Order and that comments promoting hate speech‚ harassment and those inciting violence will not be tolerated on her pages.”

According to the commission‚ that prompted public outcry against Bridges was a picture of a post by a “Siyabonga IIyezi”‚ which stated: “I’m not condoning killing‚ but the reality is that these farm killings won’t stop until Black people get the land they rightfully own back from those who stole it” .Bridges allegedly responded: “Dit is hierdie SOT se opinie oor die 4 PLAASMOORDE die aftgelope paar dae!!!” This loosely translates to: “This is this fool’s opinion of the four farm murders over these past few days.”