Ericsson South Africa has sacked an employee, Vivienne Catherine Basson, after a Tweet the company said breached its Code of Business Ethics.
The controversial Tweet was posted by the employee following her involvement with a taxi driver in a car accident.
She used racist terminology in a Tweet along with a picture of a damaged car, and called for the death penalty.
She tweeted: “Effing k**fir taxi. And once again I vote for the death penalty. These savages don’t deserve to live. But more importantly Daniel is alive and I am alive. They can rot in hell.”
In South Africa, “kaffir” is regarded as a deeply offensive racial slur.
In a statement announcing the employee’s dismissal, Ericsson South Africa said she contravened the company’s Code of Business Ethics.
“As per our Ericsson Code of Business Ethics, we have a zero tolerance policy against all kinds of discrimination based on partiality or prejudice. In this case the Code has been breached, and as such the individual involved has been summarily dismissed,” Ericsson said in a statement.
Basson attempted to justify her actions in subsequent Tweets. According to her, she has had previous incidences of hit-and-run with taxi drivers, while she said she has also been robbed and shot at in her home in the past.
Image courtesy of Shuttershock
