A man who became impatient in an emergency room as he did not receive immediate treatment, was found guilty of committing hate speech after he swore at a nurse on duty. Racist abuse directed at a Mediclinic nurse in Cape Town has been deemed hate speech and harassment by the city’s Equality Court. The incident occurred when a frustrated patient, unhappy with the wait time for assistance, launched a barrage of racial and gender insults at the emergency room nurse, who reported feeling humiliated by the encounter.
Mark Preyer landed in hot water after he used the”k” word towardsnurse Funeka Mayongo during a visit to the clinic in February last year. He also called her a”f… bitch” andaimed sore words towards her mother.
The problems started when Preyer was not coded as a priority patient and that there were other patients who required priority attention before him. According to the receptionist, Preyer, who was at the time outside the emergency care entrance, tried to forcefully open the door to the emergency unit. Preyer refused to accept that he had to wait for up to an hour or two, nor that he had to join the queue and wait his turn.
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He demanded immediate attention. The behaviour of Preyer led to the receptionist approaching Mayongo. The receptionist could not hear what was said between the two of them, but she later saw Mayongo leaving the adjacent room, crying.
Mayongo testified that she saw the wound on Preyer’s foot and concluded that it was not an emergency and priority case. Whilst asking him questions, Preyer got angry and started swearing at her. It was a verbal attack full of obscenities.
Preyer’s case was that he was travelling on a motorcycle when it fell on him and injured his foot. According to him, it was a deep flesh open wound on his right shin. He went to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment and claimed that the receptionist appeared disinterested as she was busy on the phone.
Preyer claimed that the nurse also looked up at him with an expression of naked hostility while his wound was”dripping blood”.This further angered him, and he felt that he was deliberately mistreated. His feeling was that he was being racially prejudiced. He said he was usually a calm person, so he was not proud that he lost his temper.
Judge Daniel Thulare noted that Preyer was impatient and angry and that he did make the utterances, as this was supported by other witnesses. “It seems to me that racists have a fragile ego. Where their flaws are exposed, they blame their victims to maintain their image and to avoid shame.”
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