Justice Department welcomes Qwelane hate speech judgment
The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has welcomed the Constitutional Court judgment that has reinforced that a newspaper column by the late Journalist Jon Qwelane on same-sex marriages constituted hate speech.
The column titled "Call me names, but gay is not okay" was published in 2008.
Qwelane linked gay marriage to bestiality.
The article lauded the unapologetic homophobic view of the former president of Zimbabwean, the late Robert Mugabe.
The Constitutional Court judgement upheld a judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal that declared the article hate speech.
"The Court found section 10(1) of the Equality Act to be unconstitutional to the extent of the inclusion of the term ‘hurtful," says spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, Chrispin Phiri.
The highest court in the land also instructed Parliament to make the necessary constitutional amendments.
"The Court further held that the declaration of constitutional invalidity should be suspended for 24 months to afford Parliament an opportunity to remedy the constitutional defect. Importantly, the Court ordered that in the interim, section 10 should be read to refer exclusively to speech that is harmful and incites hatred," concludes Phiri.
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