The EFF accuses the Court of Appeal of creating a breeding ground for “white supremacist, anti-black extremists like AfriForum to collaborate with combative police officers and security forces”, an alliance that will exploit the situation and “merciless violence against vulnerable, landless people will apply to those who only crave a piece of land”.
These statements follow after the court rejected the party’s third application for leave to appeal this week. Malema and his party wanted to appeal with all their might against an interdict prohibiting them from inciting people to enter private property and illegally occupy it. That application has now finally failed.
“The judgment embodies the oppressive nature of draconian apartheid legislation that sanctioned the theft of our ancestors’ land,” the party says in a statement.
The fact that the incitement to illegally occupy private property is considered a serious crime in terms of the ruling, is worrying for the red berets and the party labels it as a slap in the face of democracy.
“We watch in amazement as the courts criminalize the desire for legal land ownership, declare land occupation illegal and brand it as a criminal offense in our society.
“AfriForum’s pursuit of this interdict is tainted with frivolous motives rooted in white supremacy, racism and anti-black ideologies. It is clear that the courts have also been hijacked by this white order.”
The EFF further accuses the court of having now unleashed “dormant violence” that had been “under the surface and emanating” for some time.
The party also says that the desire for land and property is just as important as the need for water – a right that cannot be taken away from citizens.
According to the EFF, interdicts such as those that are now being enforced by the court undermine the Constitution while also being contrary to the freedom struggle that recognized the right of citizens to participate in peaceful protest marches, “like land occupation”.
The EFF says it cannot abandon its fundamental duty to incite its followers to occupy property where they deem it necessary, and that it will oppose the ruling in any way possible.
