A South African court ruled on Wednesday to send a woman to prison for three years after making racist comments, a first in the country's history. Back in February 2016, Vicki Momberg of Johannesburg was filmed spewing racially charges slurs at black police officers who had responded to a robbery report at her home.
Last November, Momberg was charged with four counts of "crimen injuria"—which is the use of racist language, Buzzfeed reports—after reportedly calling the police officers "kaffirs," the derogatory term for black South Africans that dates back to apartheid. The state prosecutor, Baba Yusuf, explained that Momberg's recent instance of racist language is her second known offense. In 2006, Momberg was brought in for a similar crime but charges were ultimately dismissed. However, Yusuf felt that her hateful sentiments had not changed.
In the video that shows Momberg's interaction with the police, you can hear her speaking on the phone and using the slur towards the officers and saying, "The kaffirs here in Joberg are terrible. I’m so sick of it, I really am." She continued her rant and explained that she did not want black officers to assist her. "I am happy for a white person to assist me, or a colored person, or an Indian person. I do not want a black person to assist me," Momberg says.
In Momberg's 2006 charges, she's reported to have expressed similar statements to police, but this latest incident escalated to disturbing heights when she actually began threatening violence against black South Africans. "If I see a kaffir I will drive him over,” she says. “I have a gun, I will shoot everybody."
Due to her history of racially charged language and recent threats, Pravina Raghoonandan, the magistrate who presided over her case, argued that Momberg showed no remorse, despite her attorney's attempt to cite psychological distress from being robbed as a defense, according to Eyewitness News. Many South Africans are hoping that this sentence will serve as a warning for those who feel emboldened like Momberg to publicly contribute to the deep-seated racist feelings that still exist in the country.
