Gingers – or red-heads – are under attack, with "derogatory remarks" about them being likened to those uttered during the dark days of apartheid.
Kyle Brown, a listener of popular radio station 5FM, became so riled by the continuous mocking of red-heads on DJ Roger Goode's weekday afternoon show that he complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.
Brown, a 25-year-old red-head from a mostly ginger-haired family, said he was offended and disturbed by the insinuation that red-headed people were strange, inferior and odd, adding that 5FM sports presenter Sias du Plessis was often on the receiving end of these undertones.
"It may seem like good fun, but please remember that hair colour is a pigment, and not so long ago pigment in the skin was the core foundation that constructed the apartheid regime," the Johannesburg resident said in his complaint.
The last straw, Brown said, was when the show's traffic reader, Thando Thabethe, said she was surprised that Du Plessis was popular on Twitter – with more than 70000 followers – because he was ginger. "Who would follow a ginger?" Thabethe reportedly asked.
Brown said the constant mocking added to the stigma against red- heads, which was increasingly dangerous in the context of school bullying.
But 5FM broadcaster, the SABC, admitted that while such comments were not in the best taste, they were the expressions of the presenters' humour and no offence was intended.
It added that Goode's show was aimed at young trendy adults, not children, and the conversation addressed the misconception that gingers were inferior in a light-hearted and honest manner.
Although the commission dismissed Brown's complaint, it warned that 5FM would be well advised to reconsider the racial basis of its humour.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the commission said that while the comments did not amount to hate speech as there was no intention to promote violence towards red- heads, Brown's complaint was sound because skin pigment formed the basis of apartheid policy.
Brown said he was unhappy with the commission's decision, describing it as not good enough.