By Hassan Isilow
JOHANNESBURG (AA) – A white South African judge has come under a barrage of criticism after suggesting that rape is part of the culture of black men.
Mabel Jansen, a high court judge in Pretoria, made the comments in a private Facebook conversation with film-maker Gillian Schutte, who later made the remarks public.
“In their culture a woman is there to pleasure them,” Jansen wrote last year. She added: “It is seen as an absolute right and a woman’s consent is not required… I still have to meet a black girl who was not raped at about 12. I am dead serious.”
The comments led to a petition for Jansen to be removed as a judge and caused outrage.
“A high court judge with such grossly racist views could never hand down fair judgments to black people,” popular musician Simphiwe Dana tweeted. “Mabel Jansen should resign”.
Others referred to Jansen as a bigot and a racist.
The judge said her comments had been taken out of context and referred to specific court cases.
The case is the latest in a growing number of high-profile incidents on social media in the country that left Apartheid behind two decades ago.
In January, estate agent Penny Sparrow referred to black South Africans as monkeys in a Facebook post and a black government employee, Velaphi Khumalo, later called for the country to do to white South Africans what “Hitler did to the Jews”.
The government has vowed to toughen anti-racism laws.
