The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed Julius Malema and EFF’s application to appeal against an interdict which AfriForum acquired in 2017, which prohibited him and his party from calling on the public to invade and occupy any vacant land of their choosing.
Malema has been firm in his call for people to occupy any vacant land however they wish.
In 2014 and 2016, the EFF leader called on people to occupy land however they wished, which led to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) instituting charges against him saying he violated the section 18(2)(b) of the Riotous Assemblies Act.
Malema did not take this kindly and approached the high court asking it to declare that entire portion of the legislation illegal insofar as it demanded that someone found guilty of inciting others to commit a crime be punished with the same severity as the one who actually committed the crime.
In 2019, Malema got his way after the high court ruled in his favour, however, in 2020, the Constitutional Court overturned the ruling by the high court but found that only a particular section of the act was unconstitutional and invalid.
On Tuesday, the high court in Pretoria dismissed Malema and the EFF’s application for leave to appeal with costs.
Judge Peter Mabuse reinforced and relied on the Constitutional Court judgement which emphasised the unconstitutionality of incitement to trespass on private property.
“This judgement is a major win for private property rights and a big blow to those who wish to incite criminality, violence or lawlessness,” said AfriForum’s campaign officer for strategy and content, Ernst van Zyl.
“AfriForum welcomes Judge Mabuse’s judgement which adds the necessary emphasis on the serious criminal nature of inciting people to trespass on and illegally occupy private property,” Van Zyl said.
Source: Business Day, IOL, AfriForum, image from Twitter: @IamBrian_Azania