In the first case of its kind in South Africa, a man has been convicted for threatening and abusive online messages, directed at the Jewish community.

Matome Letsoalo, said to be a freelance writer, was sentenced last Friday (30 October) to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years, for vicious antisemitic tweets he sent to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) in June 2018.

The first tweet, sent to the Board’s account, showed a picture of Holocaust victims with the text “@SAJBD The #Holocaust Will be like a Picnic When we are done with all you Zionist Bastards. F*ck All of You.”

Later that day (June 21) Letsoalo sent a second message which read “@SAJBD Must get Decimated. We Can’t have Scandinavian Rats, Fake Jews, Zionist Bastards Running our Economy”. When Jewish community members challenged him, he sent a series of threatening and antisemitic messages on Twitter. His pictures included a swastika and a burning Israeli flag.

In response, the SAJBD lodged a charge of crimen injuria against Letsoalo. It took two years for the case to come to court — partly due to COVID-19 delays and for the police to locate him — but he finally pleaded guilty.

The presiding magistrate, Judge Heidi Barnard, said that Letsoala’s “hateful” messages were against the South African constitution and were becoming “all too prevalent” in the country. She said that the sentence reflected the maximum term allowed to the district court, but was suspended because of the guilty plea. Any repetition of the offence, Letsoala was warned, would result in jail.

SAJBD national director, Wendy Kahn, said: “This outcome sends a strong message that threatening and hate-filled attacks on our community will not be tolerated and that the SAJBD will do everything necessary to bring those responsible to justice, no matter how long it takes”.

Lawyer Ian Levitt, who represented the SAJBD, said: “We were not swayed in our determination to have Letsaolo convicted. We will continue to assist in the prosecution of those that attack our community, seemingly with impunity, and we hope that this conviction will be a lesson to those who do so”.