The SA Human Rights Commission has welcomed the latest Equality Court judgment against Reverend Oscar Bougardt, which has again gagged him from making anti-gay comments on social media.
Bougardt, from Strandfontein, was hauled before the Equality Court at the Western Cape High Court for the umpteenth time in May this year after numerous homophobic rants and slandering on his Facebook page, dating back to 2012.
In 2018, Bougardt was found guilty in the Equality Court for his comments, which included: “99 percent of paedophiles have (a) homosexual background”; “To hell with homosexuals ... their lifestyle is an abomination to God, but Christians in South Africa are too scared to speak out against (it)”; and “If I was the president of my country I would lock them in cages where they belong. They don’t even deserve a prison cell.”
An order was handed down in May 2018, in which the court declared Bougardt to be in contempt of an order made in 2014, that instructed him to refrain from making similar statements in future.
It was ordered in 2018 that he be committed to prison for a period of 30 days.
The committal was, however, suspended until May 2023.
The SAHRC said Bougardt continued making inflammatory statements against gay and lesbian people, and in October 2019, the commission brought an application for his committal, based on the 2018 order.
The Equality Court last month committed Bougardt to prison for a period of nine months, suspended for a period of five years. This on condition that he does not again breach the terms of the 2014 order and does not directly or indirectly publish, post, disseminate, comment on or share, on any social media platform, digital forum or interactive website (including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok or YouTube) any statements concerning sexual orientation or any other prohibited grounds defined as such in the definition of “prohibited grounds” under section 1(1) (a) and (b) of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000.
“The commission regrets that it had to seek the assistance of the courts to uphold the rights in the Constitution.
“We live in a democracy which is founded on the values of, among others, human dignity and non-discrimination.
“Section 9(4) provides that no one may unfairly discriminate against anyone on grounds that include sexual orientation.
“While we may feel very strongly about the ways of life of some sections of society, our democracy will work well where no right is able to trump another right entrenched in the Bill of Rights,” the Commission said.
Cape Times