South African model and aspiring actress in race row

Jessica Leandra Dos Santos, a 20-year-old white, former FHM model, who tweeted last week: “Just, well took on an arrogant and disrespectful kaffir inside Spar. Should have punched him.” The term is a racist slur for a black person and originates from the Arabic word for disbeliever. Although she apologised and blamed the remark on anger over being sexually harassed by the unnamed man, her timeline revealed another racist tweet. "Highlight of my weekend? Almost punching an #Engen petrol assistant. No tolerance for rude African monkeys whatsoever," it read. Following angry responses to the comments, Dos Santos deleted the latest offending tweet, but added: "Would u all stop! These are the kinds of people that land up raping young girls of our country! I wasn't going to let him get away with it." As a result, she was dropped by her sponsors and lost several modelling contracts. Among the responses to her comments was one from Tshidi Thamana, 21, an aspiring actress, who evoked the memory of Nelson Mandela-era ANC Youth League president Peter Mokaba, the original author of the apartheid struggle slogan "Kill the Boer" which has caused controversy under modern youth leader Julius Malema. "Dear Mr Peter Mokaba ... I wish All White People were killed when you sang 'Kill The Boer' we wouldn't be experiencing @JessicaLeandra's racism right now," Miss Thamana tweeted. When she in turn became the subject of condemnation, she apologised, saying: "Yes, racism is wrong. It was tweeted in anger." While dismissed by many as a childish spat between two naive young women, the row has raised questions about how much progress has been made in eradicating the scars of South Africa's apartheid which ended 20 years ago. It came just days after a university student was suspended for allegedly posting a racist message on Facebook. Ken Sinclair, from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, posted a message in which he allegedly said black people were "------- brain-dead monkeys (who) always skinner (gossip) in their retarded language". The university said it had suspended Mr Sinclar pending an investigation. Anita Hollis, director of Take 10 Casting who until recently had Miss Thamana on her books for acting work, said she did not believe she was actually racist. "She is a young girl who was very naive, and probably thought she was being cool by making a comment whose implications she didn't realise," she said. But she added that many young South Africans did seem to be more racist than their parents. "I think the older generation who saw Mandela come to power have worked things out and settled down," she said. "Perhaps for economic reasons, because they are struggle to get jobs, and perhaps because they listen to people like Julius Malema, the younger generation blame the racial situation." Lucy Holborn, from South Africa's Institute of Race Relations, said the so-called "born-free" generation, who have few memories of apartheid, simply failed to understand the sensitivities around such terms. "That means that they are more flippant about using them, particularly in their own social circles which are probably largely made up of people within their own racial groups," she said. Mmusi Maimane, a social entrepreneur and spokesman for the Democratic Alliance opposition party, which with a white leader and past links to the apartheid-era National Party has grappled with race issues of its own, said many people fell back on racial language to express frustration at unrelated issues. "When tensions rise about issues such as economic inequality or land issues, people come out with a learned response that frequently involves the old apartheid rhetoric," he said. Mr Maimane has arranged to meet both women today. They have both been reported to the SA Human Rights Commission.