Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema addresses supporters following the dismissal of his attempt to have the Riotous Assemblies act declared unconstitutional. July 4, 2019. Picture: Nigel Sibanda.
Speaking outside the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday in a mixture of Sepedi and English, following the dismissal of his application to have the Riotous Assemblies act declared unconstitutional, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema repeated similar comments to ones he has made before about the judiciary.
According to Malema, the judgment in which the party was ordered to pay R500,000 to Trevor Manuel for defamation is an attempt to silence the opposition.
He continued to say that if this silencing of the opposition continues, there would soon be no more opposition.
“That is when corruption and maladministration will be institutionalised,” he said.
READ MORE: Malema’s challenge of apartheid-era Riotous Assemblies Act dismissed
While Malema has alleged that the judiciary is going to be captured in the future before, including outside a court hearing in Bloemfontein over charges that he violated the Riotous Assemblies Act – the same act he today failed to have declared unconstitutional, he took this idea step further in this instant, suggesting that the silencing of the opposition he mentioned would eventually cause the total demise of freedom of speech in South Africa.
Malema mentioned the “suppression of political speech” which takes place in other African countries.
“In some countries, even when you say, ‘The president today isn’t wearing the right clothes’, they will lock you up,” he said, adding that he believed this was the direction in which the current government of South Africa was going.
The EFF leader said he was making this prediction now so that when it came to pass, his foresight would be acknowledged.
READ MORE: The judiciary is about to be captured – Malema
He also had the crowd in stitches joking in his native Sepedi about Marianne Thamm’s recent report in The Daily Maverick, which saw her go through what is alleged to be EFF members’ trash.
Specifically, Malema made light of the fact that among the items found were used and unused condoms.
One of his jokes roughly translates as: “After they’ve gone through used condoms, they’re going to start peeping through windows to see how many rounds you last in bed.”
In English, he said of Thamm: “Look at how daring this white woman is.
“You know, a used condom, wrapped in a packet, can you imagine opening that?”
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
