A motoring journalist accused of racism has resigned from
the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ).
Bernard Hellberg Sr quit his membership as the guild was
preparing a disciplinary hearing against him for alleged racist comments in
articles and on social media.
Hellberg Sr, a contributor to Driven magazine and the SA
Express Airways’ Indwe inflight magazine, was in December 2017 accused by
another journalist, Thegandra Naidoo, of making racist statements. Naidoo, who had
been fired from his job some years ago for a social media post in which he
threatened violence against motorcycle riders, compiled a dossier which
included Hellberg Sr reportedly comparing blacks to gorillas. Also, in a comment
to an article in the Mail and Guardian posted on Facebook in 2017, he said of
the Umkhonto Wesizwe Military Veterans Association: “The tricky part will be to
get the bush out of these dancing bunnies”.
His comment on a 2016 Politicsweb article read: “Thank you
for the vulgar, typically African 70 IQ response. I would have not expected
anything less from a follower of the Thief in Chief,” and another comment about
Indians read: “Those fellas probably worship rats as reincarnated relatives.
Adds new meaning to the term rat race”.
Naidoo said he’d lodged a complaint about these posts late
in 2017 with the SAGMJ but had received no response. According to Naidoo, this
was because the chairman of the guild, Bernard Hellberg Jr, is Hellberg’s son
and also his employer. Alleging a cover-up, Naidoo then approached the Human
Rights Commission.
In reply the guild this week confirmed it had received Naidoo’s
complaint in 2017 containing a single screen shot of a social media
post where Hellberg Sr commented on another post using two emoji
icons in his comment.
“Following the receipt of this complaint, the Chairman, Mr
Bernie Hellberg Jr, in consultation with the Vice-chairman, Mr Eugene Herbert, and the guild office,
communicated with Mr Naidoo by email and telephone,” says the SAGMJ statement.
“Mr Hellberg Sr was subsequently advised of the complaint
and reprimanded, but regrettably Mr Naidoo was not advised. Although the Committee has resolved
that the Chairman followed procedure in this regard, it is regretted that the
complainant had not initially been advised of the outcome,” it continued.
“Subsequent to the initial complaint, the recent publication
of an article in the media on 15 April 2018, brought to light new allegations of alleged racist
comments. Following these additional allegations, the SAGMJ acted immediately to address the
issue … and a disciplinary committee was formed.
“Mr Bernard Hellberg Sr responded by
tendering his resignation from the SAGMJ with immediate effect.”
The SAGMJ said the resignation has brought the disciplinary
procedure to a close, as the body is not mandated to further pursue matters
against a nonmember.
"The guild is a
non-profit, non-racial and multicultural organisation that embraces cultural diversity and rejects,
in the strongest terms, any forms of discrimination based on race, gender, age, religion, or
sexual orientation,” the guild statement continued.
“While the guild recognises all South Africans’ right of
expression, members are cautioned that the guild will not tolerate racist or otherwise discriminatory
comments made by its members and will pursue such infringements with vigour.”