AfriForum’s application for judge’s recusal ‘politically motivated’

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has slammed AfriForum’s application for acting Judge of Appeal Raylene Keightley to recuse herself from the ‘Kill the Boer’ case.

AfriForum claimed Keightley lashed out against the organisation in court in 2018, arguing it was “unwilling to move beyond its anachronistic positions”.

This, according to AfriForum, proves Keightley is biased against the organisation.

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But the EFF has described the organisation’s legal action against the party as a “complete waste of the time of the judiciary, and nothing but an elaborate fundraising exercise for racist right-wingers”.

“Even though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and former President Thabo Mbeki’s testimony debunked the notion that ‘kill the boer’ advocated for white genocide, AfriForum clung to this narrative. Ironically, this reflects AfriForum’s racist, minimalistic, myopic and underdeveloped way of thinking rooted in the assumption that black masses cannot differentiate between a call for struggle and a call for violence,” said the party in a statement.

“To date, AfriForum has failed to establish a casual link between the chants and any acts of violence.”

The party said AfriForum’s application is a attempt to coerce the courts into ruling in favour of whites .

“AfriForum argues that Judge Keightley’s statements from about five years ago indicate bias against their organisation.

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“However, these statements were were never contested until now, after they received an unfavourable outcome in a separate case she presided over concerning the medium of instruction at the University of South Africa (Unisa).

“The timing of this recusal application therefore raises questions, as these remarks were made half a decade ago and were not challenged earlier. Furthermore, none of these remarks warrant a recusal application, especially considering that Keightley J granted AfriForum’s leave to appeal in the same hearing that they now claim she exhibited bias.”

‘Kill the Boer’: Malema vs AfriForum

The Equality Court last August ruled that the singing of “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” by EFF supporters in Senekal in October 2020 was not hate speech.

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AfriForum is appealing the ruling.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen also announced in July his party would be filing charges against both Malema and the ANC government at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“The first element of our UN case will focus on Malema’s repeated incitement of ethnic violence,” said Steenhuisen.

“The second element will charge the ANC national government before the UN over its years-long failure to take action against their one-time protégé even as brutal farm murders continue to escalate in the wake of Malema’s demagoguery.”

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