Categories: South Africa

AfriForum’s lawyer is Jan van Riebeeck’s doppelganger: Twitter reacts

Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has been testifying in the Equality Court in Johannesburg last week.

Malema is being charged along with the party’s MP and former spokesperson, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, with hate speech for allegedly singing the anti-apartheid song Dubul’ibhunu which translates to “shoot the Boer” or “kill the Boer”.

Malema and party supporters sang the song outside the magistrate’s court in Senekal, Free State, during the bail application of suspects accused of murdering farm manager Brendin Horner.

AfriForum wants a public apology and demands the EFF pay an amount of R500,000 to a non-governmental organisation combating hatred.

The party’s commander-in-chief didn’t disappoint with his razor-sharp wit and equally scathing viewpoints in the witness box.

However, it was AfriForum’s lawyer who had social media abuzz because of the advocate’s uncanny resemblance with South Africa’s first Dutch settler, Jan Van Riebeeck.

Mark Oppenheimer has been the subject of countless memes and posts because he appears to be a carbon copy of Jan Van Riebeeck.

Oppenheimer just also happens to be prosecuting a civil case against Malema on behalf of staunch Afrikaaner lobby group AfriForum.

The significance of this case against alleged Afrikaaner hatred being prosecuted by a Jan Van Riebeeck lookalike in a time that the effects of colonialism are no longer whitewashed has not been lost on social media users either.

While the judge will still have to make a finding on whether Malema’s songs can incite violence against Afrikaaners, the court of public opinion appears to favour the EFF CIC, with many concluding that Malema “wiped the floor with Oppenheimer.”