Warning to Juju, EFF
COURT INTERDICT: ‘STOP TALK OF ILLEGAL LAND OCCUPATIONS’
AfriForum ready to lay contempt of court charges if the order is ignored.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and its leader, Julius Malema, face contempt of court charges if they continue to incite illegal land grabs, rights group AfriForum has warned.
The organisation and business rights watchdog AfriSake yesterday obtained an order in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, interdicting Malema and the EFF from inciting, instigating, commanding or procuring any individuals to commit the crime of trespassing on land without the permission of the land owners or lawful occupiers. The court also granted punitive costs against Malema and his party.
AfriForum’s safety coordinator, Tarien Cooks, said they would not hesitate to lay contempt of court charges against Malema or anyone who ignored the interdict.
Cooks said in an affidavit when they wrote to the EFF to stop its continued calls for illegal land invasions, the organisation’s legal officer, Zuma Madibane, had replied that they would not take instructions from “organisations representing a racist minority obsessed with preserving white supremacist ideas” and would not stop until all land had been returned “to its rightful owners”.
She referred to numerous incidents where Malema had encouraged supporters to invade land.
AfriBusiness political analyst Armand Greyling said the organisation viewed private land ownership as one of the cornerstones of a flourishing economy based on the free-market system.
AfriForum is planning a blitz conference this month about what land owners’ rights are and what they plan to do when their land is grabbed.