Adam Catzavelos was sentenced to a R50 000 fine following his conviction for racism.
Photo: Twitter/AneleMda
Adam Catzavelos was sentenced to a R50 000 fine following his conviction for racism.
Photo: Twitter/AneleMda
Convicted racist Adam Catzavelos has thanked his “reasonable judge” for handing him a R50 000 fine rather than a set of handcuffs.
Taking into account his previous conviction and the 100 hours of community service he has completed, Magistrate Hleziphe Nkasibe handed him a suspended sentence in exchange for R50 000.
He was previously told to pay R150 000 following his Equality Court conviction.
A very lucky boy
Dressed in a black suit and tie and sporting a bear and long hair which have grown out over the course of his time in the South African spotlight, he made a short statement to the media in which he said that he was glad it was all over.
“I’m very relieved and grateful that I had a very fair and reasonable judge. “
But unfortunately for Adam, the South African public do not think he should be allowed to get on with his life so easily.
Twitter was inundated with outrage over the leniency of his sentence, with many saying that he should have been placed behind bars.
EFF slams decision
The EFF, who initially brought the case against Catzavelos following his conviction in the Equality Court in 2019, were equally perplexed by the slap on the wrist.
“Ultimately, the one thing that will resolve our racist past and also protect black people from this indignity and inhumanity is if racism is actually criminalised because currently it is not,” said chair of the Gauteng EFF, Mandisa Mashego.
“In the law books, racism is not criminalised. That is why we were left with no choice but to stick to the crimen injuria charge. This case points out the need for racism to be criminalised,” Mashego said.
Catzavelos’ attourney Lawley Shein, said that despite his guilt, his client had truly learnt his lesson and demonstrated remorse for his actions.
“Given that, it also taught him about himself and racism and going forward in our society. The sentence was very fair in my opinion,” Shein said.
