More racism claims surface
2010-01-04 18:02
Cape Town - More hikers who were allegedly refused accommodation on Table Mountain on racial grounds have come forward after two students complained about this before Christmas, AfriForum said on Monday.
The organisation lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Christmas Eve after two students, Etienne and Stiaan Terblanche, were apparently refused accommodation at the People's Trail Hut, allegedly because they are white.
Deputy chief executive of AfriForum, Alana Bailey, said she had received about five additional complaints from hikers who had similar experiences as far back as two years ago.
However, many of the complainants did not keep track of the exact dates the incidents occurred or exact details. This would make it difficult to add these complaints to the Terblanche's, she said.
The SAHRC on Monday confirmed it had received AfriForum's complaint about the incident in December.
"Since details about the complaint had become known, AfriForum has heard from more hikers who had similar experiences being denied accommodation at the hut based on racial grounds."
"Though the park denies that this is the case, its website also states that the cost of accommodation at the hut is R30 per person [for both adults and children] per night for 'previously disadvantaged groups only'," AfriForum said in a statement.
Accommodation at the hut is available for R30 per night while accommodation on the mountain generally costs around R800 per night, it said.
AfriForum said it would take the matter to the Equality Court should the SAHRC fail to treat it with the "gravity it deserved". Bailey said it was "alarming to see that the state's obsession with race is now manifesting itself in student accommodation at a national asset such as Table Mountain that is supposed to belong to everybody in the country".
- SAPA