Woman Becomes First South African Imprisoned for Racist Speech
Woman Becomes First South African Imprisoned for Racist Speech
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The Racist Tirade That Sent Her to Prison
A white South African woman, Vicki Momberg, lashed out at black police officers with the country’s most charged racial epithet. Her tirade was recorded on video.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES on Publish Date October 27, 2016.
Photo by Joao Silva/The New York Times.
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LONDON — If Vicki Momberg had only unleashed a high-volume tirade at the South African police officers, video of it would have been of mere passing interest. But her repeated use of a racial slur — unfamiliar to most Americans, but explosive in South Africa — made her notorious, and led to demands to make her an example.
On Wednesday, Ms. Momberg, a white woman, became the first person in South Africa to be sent to prison for using racist language against someone, according to prosecutors and legal experts. Specifically, she hurled the term “kaffir,” considered the most offensive ..