South African given suspended sentence for racist video

A South African man has been handed a suspended sentence after uttering a racist slur in a video widely shared on social media. 

Adam Catzevelos, a businessman from Johannesburg, filmed himself on a beach while on holiday in Greece, saying it was “heaven on earth” as there were no black people there.

In the video he said a derogatory term historical used by white people to denigrate black South Africans. 

The married father of three has been issued with a suspended fine of 50,000 rand or two-year jail sentence should be re-offend. He also lost his job at his family business over the incident. 

The video, which first started trending in August 2018, went viral on social media under the hashtag #AdamCatzavelos 

Earlier this month, Catzavelos expressed remorse for his actions, saying he had become a “better” person since undertaking his 100 mandatory hours of community service. 

Photo: Adam Catzavelos