BLF’s leader must be charged

AfriForum, DA to take action after Andile Mngxitama’s outburst.

Black First Land First leader Andile Mngxitama’s ostensible call for the killing of white people and their pets will see AfriForum file hate speech charges against him in the Equality Court today, while the Democratic Alliance also plans to report him to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

In a statement yesterday, AfriForum said they have instructed their legal team to prepare court documents, and will request that the National Prosecuting Authority institute an investigation to criminally prosecute Mngxitama.

This follows Mngxitama’s speech delivered in Potchefstroom on Saturday, and a series of tweets thereafter, in which he launched into a tirade against Johann Rupert, saying, inter alia, “if he hires his taxi bosses to kill one black we shall kill five whites” and “we will go to the white suburbs and avenge each black life”, apparently in reference to Rupert last week saying he has protection from taxi bosses if certain political firebrands were to threaten his life.

In a video circulating on social media, Mngxitama can be heard saying: “We’ll kill their children. We’ll kill their women. We’ll kill anything that we find on our way … We’ll kill their dogs. We’ll kill their cats.”

On Sunday he clarified his comments, saying he had been speaking in the context of “self defence” and was being misunderstood and taken out of that supposed context.

Ernst Roets, deputy CEO of AfriForum, said yesterday that “this is blatant hate speech and incitement of violence, and that the organisation will fight it with the necessary earnestness”.

Meanwhile, the DA said they will approach the SAHRC and the Equality Court in terms of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.