WATCH: SAHRC wants 'Hottentot' declared as hate speech

Lester Kiewit speaks to Chris Nissen, Commissioner at the SAHRC.

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

The film ‘Mary Poppins’ has for decades been considered a family friendly film but has recently been reclassified due to the film’s use of the racial slur 'Hottentot'.

The 1964 film used to be rated ‘U’ for universal viewing but has been changed to ‘PG’ for ‘Parental Guidance’ by the British Board of Film Classification.

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However, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says that while this is a welcome change, it is not far enough and believes ‘Hottentot’ should be considered hate speech.

“We want them to go further, because you can't put an age restriction on racism. Racism is racism.”

- Chris Nissen, South African Human Rights Commission

Nissen says that there is a history of brutality attached to this word and is linked to genocide against the San and Khoi in the country.

While this term is still used in the names of a hospital, a school, a mountain, and even a fish, plenty of work has been done to rename all of these.