EFF CIC Julius Malema briefs media at Winnie Mandela house in johannesburg, 5 December 2022. . Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
AfriForum has demanded feedback from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) after the rights group served Julius Malema and the EFF with a written notice to retract and apologise for allegedly making statements which amount to incitement to violence.
The complaint followed remarks Malema made in October last year at the party’s Western Cape third provincial People’s Assembly.
Referring to an incident that took place at the Brackenfell High School in 2021, and footage of a white person assaulting an EFF member, Malema questioned why that (white) person had not been located and taken to “an isolated space and attend to the guy properly”.
This was followed by a suggestion to the members that “… you must never be scared to kill. A revolution demands that at some point there must be killing, because the killing is part of a revolutionary act.”
Malema and the EFF have indicated that they won’t retract the statements.
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“The SAHRC gave Malema written notice on 8 November 2022 to withdraw these statements, which the SAHRC found to be hate speech and incitement to violence, and to apologise. Should Malema fail to comply with these demands, the SAHRC promised to take Malema to the Equality Court to obtain an interim interdict,” said Ernst van Zyl, campaign officer for strategy and content at AfriForum.
AfriForum has also requested an electronic copy of Malema’s apology if he has shown one.
“If the Human Rights Commission does not fulfil its promises, how can those targeted by hate speech or incitement to violence find any reassurance in its future promises? Is Julius Malema above the law?
“Has he become too high profile for the (HRC) to take on in court? Does the HRC regard hate speech against certain minority groups as less serious than others? Hopefully AfriForum, our members and the wider public will soon have clear answers,” said Van Zyl.
AfriForum said it will keep its members and the public informed of the latest developments regarding the matter.
Commission spokesperson Wisani Baloyi said the Commission has responded to Afriforum’s request and informed them that it had instituted Equality Court action against the EFF in December 2022.
“We are currently awaiting further directions from the court, which is currently in recess,” said Baloyi.
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