South Africa National Parks (SANParks) will lay both criminal and civil charges against two women, Erika Leslie and Pippa Truter, who allegedly posted or reposted racist comments on social media.
‘There have been comments on the Facebook page by two individuals whom we named alleging that there is no accommodation in Skukuza because it had been turned into a squatter camp by employees who were refusing to move back to their living quarters,’ said Ike Phaahla, Communications and Marketing Manager at Kruger National Park.
SANParks will lay charges against the individuals.
This is after Truter reposted an allegation seemingly made by Leslie on a Facebook group, saying: ‘Don’t waste your time trying to book a Charlet or Rondavel anywhere in KNP! They are all occupied by the workers of Sanparks! They took occupancy and refuse to move! Now paying clients can’t book cause it full! Another heritage side turned into a Squatter camp free of charge! Our tax money pays for their occupancy!’
Phaahla continued: ‘The post was factually incorrect, racist and misleading. It defamed the organisation alleging incompetence by management and insinuating that employees were not following protocols.’
Many group members were outraged by the language used. ‘I’m sure you can raise your complaints without the use of all those racist slurs,’ one user commented. ‘That post is pure racism and hate speech, and ANYONE who shares it, or even thinks to question it is part of the problem,’ another user added.
‘We passed the information to our Legal Department and were advised to lay charges against the identified individuals, which we will be doing. The other consideration is to ban them from the park and stop them doing business with SANParks as these were not the first negative, false and racist remarks by both individuals against the organisation,’ Phaahla added.
‘This is done to maintain the integrity of the organisation and to teach those who distribute false news a lesson,’ SANParks said in a statement.
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