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| south african judge |
White South
African judge who last year stirred a race row with social media comments
suggesting that rape was part of black culture has resigned, authorities said
Thursday.
High Court
judge Mabel Jansen was placed on leave in 2016 pending a judicial probe into a
complaint against her.
The justice
ministry said in a statement Jansen had written to President Jacob Zuma and
Justice Minister Micheal Masutha “informing them of her resignation with
immediate effect”.
A series of
Facebook posts by Jansen emerged in May 2016, where she was chatting with a
friend in private about rape in black society.
The friend
later revealed the comments to the public.
“Want to
read my files: rape, rape, rape, rape, rape, rape of minors by black family
members. It is never-ending,” wrote the former Pretoria High Court judge.
She said,
“Women tell their children it is their father’s birthright to be the first, and
that gang rapes of babies, mothers and daughters were a ‘pleasurable pass
time’.”
“In their
culture a woman is there to pleasure them. Period,” she stated.
South Africa
has some of the highest number of rape cases in the world, with small children
and elderly women among the victims.
The justice
department said Jansen’s resignation prevented a “protracted disciplinary
process”.
Jansen’s
comments caused a racial storm in a country that is still battling racial
divisions, 23 years after the end of apartheid.
The increase
in racial incidents has prompted the proposal of a law to criminalise racism,
although critics say, if approved, the legislation would affect free speech.
(AFP)
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