South African News: Model Causes Uproar With Racial Slur

Few knew of Jessica Leandra a week or so ago, but currently she’s got the whole country talking… over her recent racist tweet. The Caucasian  model tweeted

“Just, well took on an arrogant and disrespectful kaffir inside Spar [supermarket]. Should have punched him, should have [sic]. No tolerance for rude African monkeys whatsoever!”

The word “kaffir,” in South Africa, is the equivalent to the word “nigger.” It’s a banned derogatory term that was used in the past to refer to black people. Leandra, who was men’s magazine FHM’s model of the year in 2011, has since deleted the post. In a statement, on its website, FHM said Leandra has been stripped of her title as winner of the FHM Modelbook 2011 competition with immediate effect. QuickTrim SA, one of her sponsors, tweeted,

“Due to the severity of the remarks by #JessicaLeandra #QuickTrimSA herewith ends our sponsorship to her with immediate effect!”

A complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission has been lodged against the model as well. Jessica, who says she tweeted because the man  had  allegedly provoked her, said,

“Over the past 24 hours I have had time to reflect back on my actions and I don’t have the words to express my sincere remorse following my unkindly and emotional outburst on Twitter recently. No matter how much I was provoked, I do acknowledge that it was an inappropriate reaction to the incident. I have had time to reflect back on the incident and realise that I could have handled this differently.”

Leandra also said that she has decided to get professional coaching to help her deal with instances of sexual harassment.

“I am still very young and if I can learn how to handle this more appropriately, perhaps other young ladies and women in general can also benefit and learn from my experience.”

Here are some responses from the public:

@PhilaTyekana