Employee claims she was told 'blacks are baboons'

A manager at a BMW dealership in KwaZulu-Natal has been hauled before the Equality Court for hate speech, after he allegedly called an employee a baboon.

Erich Tönsing, a manager at a luxury car repair centre in Durban, is alleged to have told receptionist Ayanda Dlamini that she would "always be a baboon and all black people are baboons".

In papers filed by Dlamini last week, she said the remarks followed her announcement in February last year that she was going to graduate with a national diploma in human resources from Mangosuthu University of Technology.

Tönsing, who has until March2 to respond, has denied the allegations.

"I never made any racist comments whatsoever ... I cannot, however, comment any further at this stage as the company has set up a grievance meeting with an independent chairperson and I will give my evidence to the chairperson," said Tönsing, who manages SMG Group's Durban Approved Repair Centre.

Dlamini, who has worked for SMG - which specialises in BMWs and Mini Coopers - since January 2008, submitted to court a copy of an e-mail complaint she sent to Tönsing a day after the alleged comments.

In an e-mail response, Tönsing apologised for "any discrimination" she may have felt and said the conversation referred to was a "general discussion we had about evolution and not directed at any single person ..."

Dlamini said she was pregnant at the time and only gathered the strength last week to lodge the complaint. She has also laid a charge of crimen injuria against Tönsing.

He was arrested a day later and appeared in court on Monday. However, the case was withdrawn by prosecutors on Tuesday, allegedly due to lack of evidence.

Sean McCarthy, managing director of SMG Group, which owns three luxury car dealerships in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Cape Town, was named first respondent in Dlamini's complaint.

On Friday, McCarthy's lawyers brought an urgent interdict in the Equality Court to have his name removed from the court papers. An interim order was granted and the matter returns to court on March 5.

McCarthy said he viewed the allegations against Tönsing in an "extremely serious light".

"This is not our policy, and if our internal investigation shows that any bit of this hate speech incident is true, in terms of the bounds of the law, we will go to the extreme," said McCarthy.

But Dlamini said she felt justified in naming McCarthy in court papers. "Soon after the incident took place I reported it to my younger brother, Harry, who confronted Sean about it and he took no action."

McCarthy denies having spoken with Dlamini's brother.