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Magistrate Pravina Rugoonandan dismissed what appeared to be a desperate bid to appeal the sentencing of convicted racist Vicki Momberg at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.
Momberg’s lawyer Kevin Lawlor argued on Wednesday against the authenticity of the video recording of the incident.
Momberg is serving a three-year sentence, one year of which was suspended, for her racist rant in which she used the K-word 48 times.
She was found guilty of four counts of crimen injuria.
Momberg has been serving her sentence at the Johannesburg Correctional Services Centre‚ more commonly known as 'Sun City' prison, since the end of March.
The defence argued today that the video, which was used as a crucial piece of evidence in the case, posed as no “vital piece of evidence” in her case.
The defence argued that the authenticity of the video was questionable and that after the video was given to the police, there was no evidence that the authorities had not tampered with it.
Acting on behalf of the state, prosecutor Yusuf Baba had previously argued that the video had been authenticated and that argument was null and void, and today he continued to argue against the appeal.
The judgment, handed down by Rugoonandan after lunch following the morning’s arguments, said that there was now “a feeble attempt to challenge the state on the authenticity of the recording”.
Rugoonandan said that the initial sentence was “fair”.
While Momberg’s case has set a precedent for racism in the country, the prevention of combating of hate crimes and hate speech bill has now been tabled in Parliament. The bill, which was first introduced in 2016, looks at people who are found guilty of racist rants and instances of physical abuse related to racism.
READ: Hate crimes bill ‘makes sense’ but tweaks and contributions are needed
