‘Angelo Agrizzi must pay up for racial slur’

The South African Human Rights Commission wants Angelo Agrizzi to pay R200‚000 in compensation for referring to black people using the k-word.

The former Bosasa COO made a brief appearance at the Equality Court sitting in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to hear the hate speech complaint brought against him by the HRC.

The commission also asked the court to direct Agrizzi to undergo a sensitivity programme and to issue an unconditional apology to South Africans.

The application by the commission followed the playing of an audio clip at the state capture commission where he could be heard using the word several times.

Agrizzi apologised for using the offending word.

Buang Jones‚ an attorney who works for the commission‚ told the Equality Court that he had met with Agrizzi’s counsel to explore several options‚ including a settlement.

He asked the court to postpone the matter until June 27 for the parties to explore options regarding the resolution of the matter.

Mannie Witz‚ for Agrizzi‚ said the problem facing Agrizzi was that he did not know who had disseminated the recording‚ as he had not distributed it.

He said the hate speech complaint required Agrizzi to have disseminated the offending audio recording himself.

However‚ Witz said if settlement discussions failed‚ Agrizzi would file a response to the application by the commission.

Jones told the court that if the matter went on trial‚ the commission intended calling two witnesses who are Agrizzi’s former colleagues at Bosasa.

Speaking outside court‚ Jones‚ said the commission would have liked the matter to be set down for hearing, but was prepared to discuss a settlement