Penny Sparrow, who was convicted on a charge of crimen injuries, has died of colon cancer.
The Durban woman gained notoriety when she made racist comments on Facebook comparing black beachgoers to monkeys in 2016.
Her family issued a statement confirming that Sparrow succumbed to colon cancer in the early hours of Thursday morning.
"Understandably, the family would like the press to respect their privacy during this trying time and refrain from contact," the statement said.
The former KwaZulu-Natal estate agent was in 2016 convicted in the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court of crimen injuria and handed a fine of R5,000.
News of her death has lit up social media and is currently top-trending on twitter.
Many twitter users have shown little sympathy in her passing.
- African News Agency (ANA)
