The teacher suspended from Hillside Christian College, Corien Steenkamp is being dragged to court after she was charged under the provisions of the Racial Discrimination Prohibition Amendment Act.
Steenkamp is being investigated by the Namibian police for her racial rant against black Namibians on social media early this week, when she posted belittling and demeaning remarks against blacks in general.
Erongo regional police crime investigations coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Erastus Iikuyu yesterday said the State opened a case against Steenkamp, a resident of Walvis Bay.
According to Iikuyu, Steenkamp unlawfully and intentionally used racist and discriminatory language on social media platforms and caused, encouraged or incited hatred between whites and blacks.
“Steenkamp however has not been arrested yet as we are still investigating the matter. Also the docket after the investigation would have to be forwarded to the prosecutor general’s office for a decision,” he said.
The teacher, who deleted her Facebook account, made the racist comments following the murder of Zimbabwean woodcarver Hlaisanani Zhou, who died after he was allegedly assaulted by at least five men at Otjiwarongo last Friday.
In her discriminatory and racist posting on social media, Steenkamp posted that all the land in Namibia belonged to South African boers while displaying the old apartheid-era flag. She also questioned whether the media would have reported on the murder of the black Zimbabwean if it was a white person murdered.
At one stage, Steenkamp posted that civilisation is not made for blacks and that the Bible was also not written for blacks and she further claimed that the entire world knows that Europe is fed up with uncivilised people.
This however also did not sit well with some Europeans, who denounced Steenkamp’s statement.
Urs Häusermann who has lived in Namibia for a few years, yesterday via email said that she was shocked by the racist statement made by Steenkamp.
“I am a European (Swiss) and I lived and worked several years in Namibia and so I know it much better than this person, that most of the Europeans do not think and are not that way,” Häusermann said.
Meanwhile, the school where Steenkamp taught is expected to make a final decision about her fate today, determining whether to fire her from the school.
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na