Army official dismissed for hate speech back at work

An air force major in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who was dismissed in 2018 for hate speech was reinstated less than a year later.

This was revealed through questions by the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga.

Back in 2018, Major Mageti Vincent Mohlala, stationed at the SANDF’s Wonderboom military base in Pretoria, was fired for posting on social media that it was now “white people’s turn to be killed and tortured as a revenge for apartheid”.

He posted on Facebook after the murder of 76-year-old professor Cobus Naude, that the academic should have had endured an even worse ordeal.

“[They] Should actually have poked out his eyes and tongue so that the last people he would ever see, were the killers … Now it is the white people’s turn,” said the SANDF major.

Mohlala was initially reprimanded by the SANDF, but it was felt that this was not enough. An investigation found Mohlala guilty.

In a letter dated 17 May 2018, the then Chief of the SANDF, General Solly Shoke, wrote to Mohlala that “… it has come to my attention that you have uttered words on social media that contained severe racial slurs.”

“The words uttered showed hostility and aversion on the grounds of race. This behaviour constituted a grave breach of military discipline and the Code of Conduct for SANDF members.”

“It is furthermore contrary to the behaviour expected of a senior officer of the South African National Defence Force.”

“The words uttered by you have brought the SANDF into disrepute, therefore as a result thereof your services within the SANDF has been terminated with immediate effect,” added Shoke.

SANDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Mafi Mgobozi said at the time that the force “has a zero tolerance for racism and as in the Mohlala matter, has acted when its members have been found guilty of racism.

South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) provincial commissioner Chris Nissen said that they “condemn such outburst and no one in South Africa can make racist comments without facing the consequences.”

The Freedom Front Plus was recently informed that Mohlala had been reinstated and asked Minister Motshekga, in a parliamentary question, for confirmation and the reasons for the reinstatement. 

Motshekga confirmed that Mohlala was reinstated on 14 May 2019 – barely a year after his dismissal – but provided no background or reasons for the decision, despite being requested to do so.

The VF Plus has demanded to know whether General’s Shoke’s view and statements regarding the matter are no longer valid.

VF Plus’s Wouter Wessels said that the party “will keep insisting that the Minister provide reasons for Mohlala’s reinstatement.”