‘She called me k*ff!r’

POLOKWANE – A POLOKWANE businesswoman is facing a charge of crimen injuria after a member of Mkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans opened a case against her for allegedly calling him a k*ff!r.

Phetole Mamatlepa from Soekmekaar said the woman, whose name is known to CV but cannot be revealed until she has appeared before court, called him a k*ff!r during a heated argument between them over money.

Mamatlepa said on February 26, the woman had approached him and some fellow farm workers to buy 7,7kg of moringa (a natural food supplement high in vitamins and minerals).

“The price was R900 per kilogram and she promised to pay the following day (February 27), but she failed to do so. We went to Polokwane to demand our money, but she said she first wanted to send the moringa to a university for tests.

“Last week we visited her again, and she didn’t want to attend to us, saying she was very busy. I waited for her and asked her when she was going to pay, and again she said she was still busy. She became angry with me and said: ‘I don’t pay k*ff!rs’,” Mamatlepa said.

“I felt offended, which is why I opened a case at the Westenburg police station.”

CV spoke to the woman and asked for comment on the matter. She said she was not aware that there was a case against her. She said she had never called Mamatlepa a k*ff!r and added that the people who worked with her were her witnesses.

“I told him that I had to send the moringa to a university for tests before I could pay him. On Monday I met with him and I told him that this was not the way we should speak to one another because he was using a black language,” she said.

“I phoned people in Pretoria to courier the moringa back to Limpopo, but Mamatlepa said he didn’t need the stuff back. I didn’t use the k-word,” the woman said.

Westenburg police spokesperson, Capt Mohlaka Mashiane, confirmed that a case of crimen injuria had been opened against the woman. “She knows that there is a case against her and it is still under investigation,” Mashiane said.

Mamatlepa said on Monday, he received two calls from two different people who said they were calling to apologise on the woman’s behalf.