Penny Sparrow, who was charged with hate speech after referring to black people as “monkeys” on Facebook, has gone into hiding.
|||Cape Town - Former DA member Penny Sparrow, who was charged with hate speech after referring to black people as “monkeys”, has gone into hiding.
Sparrow took to Facebook after New Year’s Day and, responding to the packed beaches around Durban, referred to black people as “monkeys” who had no education.
“To allow them loose is inviting huge dirt and discomfort to others.
“This lot of monkeys just don’t want to even try,” Sparrow’s post read.
The DA expelled her and the ANC launched a complaint against her in the Equality Court in KwaZulu-Natal in January.
ANC attorney Peter Williams confirmed on Thursday that the Equality Court had granted a “substituted service” order for court documents to be served on Sparrow through publication in the media (The Star, The Mercury and Sunday Times).
Substituted service is only authorised by the courts when “normal forms” of service of court documents cannot be effected.
Normal forms of service include personal service or service at the residence or place of business or place of employment of the accused.
In a court application the ANC informed the Equality Court on Tuesday that the deputy sheriff attempted to serve Sparrow with court papers at her last known place of employment, Jawitz Properties.
Jawitz informed the deputy sheriff that she no longer works for the company.
The deputy sheriff made contact with her daughter, Charmaine Cowie, who said she was in Johannesburg and would be returning to KZN shortly.
Cowie refused to accept court documents on her mother’s behalf.
According to court papers, Cowie said Sparrow left KZN because she had been living in fear and was at an undisclosed address in Johannesburg.
The application states that it is clear from this conversation and from media reports that Cowie was in contact with Sparrow, but she refused to divulge her whereabouts.
The application also states that a tracing agency appointed to find Sparrow determined that she had been living at Cowie’s address.
Further attempts by the deputy sheriff to serve the court documents at Cowie’s address were unsuccessful.
Cape Times