Cape Town – Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has hit back at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) after the Commission labelled statements he made during a rally in October as “constituting incitement of violence” and “hate speech”.
The Commission released a statement saying that they received various complaints relating to statements made by Malema, as well as posters/banners displayed by the EFF at the meeting of the party’s Provincial People’s Assembly in the Western Cape on October 16, 2022.
“The Commission is of the view that certain parts of Mr Malema’s speech and some of the posters/banners displayed at the event as set out above prima facie, individually and collectively, constitute incitement of violence, hate speech and possibly other transgressions of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 4 of 2000 (“the PEPUDA”),” the Commission said.
In a statement released by the EFF, the party highlighted that they “noted” the advisory issued by the commission, saying that it “incorrectly and ignorantly labels these comments as incitements to violence and hate speech, revealing a failure of appreciating political commentary in its metaphorical, literary and historical sense.”
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CIC @Julius_S_Malema at Newzroom Afrika regarding the Human Rights Commission
-How does a neutral body make a decision without talking to the other side? All I hear is retract in ten days or we are taking you to court #MalemaOnNewzroom pic.twitter.com/ohXcuTJZdn
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 10, 2022
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CIC @Julius_S_Malema at Newzroom Afrika regarding the Human Rights Commission
-I am not going to be violated because I’m a MP, no where in the Constitution does it say Members of Parliament must be violated even when it’s openly clear #MalemaOnNewzroom pic.twitter.com/N2KZZoQRnZ
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 10, 2022
“If anyone at the commission had taken time to engage on literature which is widely publicised and part of curricula in institutions of higher learning, they would be able to place the comments by the Commander in Chief in their literary and academic context. Frantz Fanon in his seminal text, The Wretched of the Earth reflects correctly on the necessity of violence towards a violent system. Fanon in the chapter Concerning Violence speaks lucidly on the necessity of violence in order to destroy the violent systems of white supremacy and colonialism. Fanon writes that ‘violence… frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect’“, the party said.
EFF Cautions The SABC Against Purchasing Space At The ANC National Conference pic.twitter.com/IcUsiORY6G
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) November 9, 2022
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Picture: Twitter/ @EFFSouthAfrica
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
