The Open Chats Podcast has come under fire after making derogatory comments about the coloured community.
After receiving backlash, they apologised for their remarks.
Despite that, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), through its lawyers, has served the podcast hosts with a letter demanding a comprehensive, signed public apology and the removal of the podcast episode from all platforms.
The party laid a complaint at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria on Wednesday and vowed to file cases with the Equality Court and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
“Such statements are grotesquely insulting, perpetuate apartheid-era stereotypes and have profoundly eroded the dignity of a historically marginalised community,” said PA attorney Eugene Botha.
“As young South Africans with a substantial platform and influence, you ought to know better than to reduce an entire demographic to abhorrent caricatures.
“It is appalling that you believed it would be 'funny' and that a cursory, unsigned apology could undo the centuries of trauma rooted in such tropes.
“The PA will not tolerate content creators who weaponise hate for clicks and revenue.”
The DA has also reported the matter to the SAHRC, saying hate speech and racial stereotypes should not be tolerated.
“This is not humour. It is not harmless 'pop culture commentary'. It is an assault on the dignity of a community and an attempt to reduce the lived realities of South Africans into cheap, demeaning stereotypes for the sake of online clicks,” said the DA's Ivan Meyer.
“Such content fans the flames of division and undermines the constitutional values of equality, human dignity and social cohesion.”
The DA did not accept the podcast's apology.
“An apology alone does not erase the harm caused nor absolve the perpetrators from accountability,” said Meyer.
The ANC has also condemned the remarks made by the podcasters.
“These statements are not only offensive but run counter to the founding values of our democratic society, values of human dignity, nonracialism and unity, as enshrined in our constitution and the Freedom Charter,” said ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu.
“To generalise and mock an entire community in the manner that was done on this platform is not only deeply hurtful but also a betrayal of the progress South Africans have made, together, in building a nation united in its diversity.
“We are reminded painfully of the crude stereotypes of our apartheid past, where people were reduced to caricatures to justify exclusion and humiliation.”
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.