The democratic era that Nelson Mandela helped usher in in 1994 - the year the nation’s first free elections were held - restored political and personal freedoms to millions, but it has not wiped out the toxic legacy of the system of racial segregation enforced by a white-run government for most of the 20th century. Like many countries, South Africa has been grappling with how to contain hate speech as ugly tirades from private individuals and public figures ricochet around Twitter and Facebook with disturbing regularity.īut unlike other places, South Africa is stalked by the vestiges of apartheid, giving these outbursts a unique existential weight.
