by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's Film and Publication Board (FPB) has refused classification for the film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, effectively banning the first film in the country in 13 years.
The FPB last banned a film, Of Good Report in 2013, which was later overturned.
After a 3-year process, the FPB has now refused classification for Hebrews to Begroes: Wake Up Black America, which makes it illegal for the film to be distributed or to be owned in South Africa.
The FPB says the film advocates "hatred based on an
identifiable group characteristic and constitutes incitement to cause harm".
The FPB notes that the film "contains Holocaust denial and asserts the Holocaust to be a 'falsehood' - something that is direct advocacy of hatred based on identifiable group characteristics, serving to trivialise immense suffering and perpetuate antisemitism".
The FPB further notes that the "explicit text comparing Jews to 'parasites among nations' is an egregious act of dehumanisation/ This language has a well-documented history of justifying discrimination, violence, and genocide - clearly demonstrating hatred".
According to the FPB, the film promotes antisemitic views, promotes antisemitic tropes, and is filled with prejudicial language like "the frequent and unmitigated use of racial slurs", which include the n-, k- and c-words, which are hate speech.
"The content, as presented, incited hatred and spreads dangerous information," the FPB notes, "failing to provide the objective and informed perspective required for a bona fide documentary".
Anybody who broadcasts, distributes or exhibits the film in public in South Africa, offers it for sale or hire or advertises it for exhibition faces a R500 000 fine or 5-year prison sentence.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), in a statement, welcomed the banning of Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.
"The SAJBD is encouraged by the strong message sent by the FBP that the right to freedom of expression does not amount to a license to defame and propagate hatred against an entire group of people simply because of who they are and what they believe," the SAJBD says in the statement.
"This ruling safeguards the fundamental rights of all citizens of this country."
"In refusing classification to this offensive film, the FPB has sent a strong message that the right to freedom of expression does not amount to a license to defame and propagate hatred against an entire group of people simply because of who they are and what they believe.
"The SAJBD is encouraged to see how the various regulatory systems and institutions that are in place in South Africa to ensure that freedom of speech is not allowed to degenerate into hate speech are successfully fulfilling their mandate, and how, in so doing, they are helping to safeguard the fundamental right to dignity and equality of all citizens of our country."
The film was first screened in South Africa, without getting any classification, in June 2023 in a theatre in Soweto.
It was then that the SAJBD approached the FPB to ask for classification of the film and that it amounted to the unlawful incitement of hatred based on religion and ethnicity.
Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, produced, written and directed by Ronald Dalton Jr. in 2018, is based on his 2014 book series.