WATCH: We felt protected under the apartheid flag, says protester

In an interview on Monday, one of the farm murder protesters was asked why she felt the need to wear her biker jacket with the apartheid flag printed on it, and her response has caused an uproar on social media.

The woman said the protests were a call for farm murders to end, and showed that “we’re finally standing together”, but hoped that government would play its part to prevent the murders.

Under this flag, we were protected, this isn’t a black and white issue, it’s about the right to live and the right to protect yourself

She said government was not doing anything because if a farmer shot their attacker, they would go to jail, instead of their attacker. When asked why she was wearing a jacket with the flag, she said the flag was not there specifically for the day, implying it had always been there.

She said she would take it off as she had to attend a meeting.

The reason she loved the flag was because she felt protected under it.

“Under this flag, we were protected, this isn’t a black and white issue, it’s about the right to live and the right to protect yourself. I’m proud of this flag,” she said, but people on social media were not impressed with her story.

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“The moment you wear that flag, it’s a race issue! Being a biker, I’m sure she has many jackets but she chose that one,” said one, while another added: “In other words, ‘bring back the racist laws that were biased towards the whites’. I’ve said it before #BlackMonday = #WhiteSupremacy at work.”

Political leaders such as DA leader Mmusi Maimane also condemned the use of the old flag in protests, saying it was “unacceptable”.

In a statement on Tuesday, the EFF said it observed with “disgust the racist marches that took place yesterday going under the name of Black Monday”.

According to the party, the marches promoted anti-black racism using apartheid symbols to gain public sympathy.

“This important compromise on the part of black people, who lived on their knees for centuries, accompanied by forced removals, genocides and massacres, is what was being insulted by Black Monday marchers. The black human gift encapsulated in the democratic dispensation is what Black Monday marches assaulted with their apartheid symbols and pronouncements.

“We call on all who took to the streets yesterday, who wish for the return of apartheid and protection under its values to take the next convenient boats and leave our country. The land and farms that they occupy will simply be assumed by other commercial farmers,” it said.

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