AfriForum has approached the High Court in Pretoria seeking to have the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and its leader, Julius Malema, found in contempt of court over renewed calls for land occupation.
The organisation filed the contempt application on Friday, following comments made by Malema at an EFF public lecture at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane on 23 July.
According to AfriForum, Malema spoke about the possibility of young people entering and occupying a farm in Stellenbosch, which the organisation says breaches a 2017 court order prohibiting him and the EFF from encouraging or facilitating the unlawful occupation of land.
AfriForum is asking the court to impose a R500,000 fine on the EFF and sentence Malema to 18 months in prison, or impose another appropriate sanction.
The 2017 interdict prohibits Malema and the EFF from inciting, instigating, commanding or procuring people to trespass on private property or enter land without the permission of the owner or lawful occupant. The original order was granted by the High Court in Pretoria in March 2017.
Malema and the EFF subsequently challenged the order through several court applications. The High Court dismissed their application for leave to appeal in January 2023, while the Constitutional Court dismissed a further application in March that year. The Supreme Court of Appeal later dismissed another application for leave to appeal in June 2023.
The Constitutional Court again dismissed an application by Malema and the EFF in September 2023, with AfriForum saying at the time that the party had exhausted its legal avenues to challenge the interdict.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the latest application was about enforcing the existing court order.
“This case is about the rule of law.”
Kriel said Malema and the EFF were aware of what the order required and had unsuccessfully attempted to overturn it.
“It cannot be that ordinary citizens are bound by court orders, while certain political parties and political leaders regard themselves as above the law,” Kriel said.
AfriForum said it regarded Malema’s latest remarks as evidence that the EFF and its leader were wilfully disregarding the court order.
The application will now be considered by the High Court in Pretoria, which will determine whether the conduct cited by AfriForum amounts to contempt and, if so, what sanction should follow.
The EFF’s response to the latest application was not available at the time of publication.
