There is a trend right now to look for problems where there are non, or to lay waste to misguided individuals and then generalize these as facts for many. Witch hunting has become a norm, often one sided, where the witch hunters may say or do what they want, yet destroy anyone else who does the same. Organizations such SAHRC are currently quite complicit in this I am afraid, which means that at least to some degree in addition to the the likes of BLFs and some of the media (huff post for instance), actual government is also responsible to create this madness of stiffling debate by all means, be it by threats or publishing media that is designed to persecute, and being extreemly selective and one sided while doing so.

From there it is not a large step to persecution for thought.