‘Apartheid draconian rules’: EFF reacts to losing to AfriForum

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says it objects to the judgement handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein which dismissed the party’s application for leave to appeal an interdict which AfriForum acquired in 2017 on illegal occupation of private property.

According to the lobby group, the interdict prohibited Malema and the EFF from inciting people to trespass on private property and to illegally occupy it.

EFF AND MALEMA LOSE TO AFRIFORUM

As previously reported by The South African, in January 2023, Julius Malema and the EFF applied for leave to appeal in this case with the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and the application was dismissed.

They then took the matter to the Constitutional Court and their application was dismissed in March 2023. Malema and his party then approached the Supreme Court of Appeal.

ALSO READ: ‘I’m going to defeat you again white boys’: Malema to AfriForum

AfriForum said this is the fifth loss for Malema and the EFF in this same matter. First the interdict was granted by default because Malema’s attorneys did not show up at court in 2017. Second Malema’s rescission application was dismissed with costs. Third Judge Mabusa of the High Court dismissed Malema’s application for leave to appeal.

Fourth the Constitutional Court dismissed his application for direct access and appeal and now the Supreme Court of Appeal likewise dismissed the appeal because there are no prospects of success. It is now established law that incitement to trespass and invade land is a serious crime.

WATCH: Malema warns of anarchy and looting in BBC interview

COURTS ACCUSED OF OPPRESSION

Following the judgement, the EFF said it (the judgement) embodies the oppressive nature of apartheid draconian laws that sanctioned the theft of ancestral lands.

The party said AfriForum’s pursuit of the interdict is “marred by frivolous motives rooted in white supremacist, racist and anti-black ideologies”.

“The recent ruling by the SCA has not only unleashed a dormant violence that has festered beneath the surface but also created fertile ground for white supremacist, anti-black extremists like AfriForum to collude with trigger-happy police and security forces,” the party added.

ALSO READ: AfriForum loses its appeal and fight to display the ‘apartheid flag’