AfriForum’s flag tweet slammed
Mandela Foundation says the act scorned the judgment
AFRIFORUM’S head of policy Ernst Roets has drawn widespread condemnation on social media after he posted the old South African flag just hours after the Equality Court ruled against its public display.
Roets’ post was accompanied by the caption: “Did I just commit hate speech?”
Twitter users slammed Roets for his post, with some threatening legal action.
Addressing journalists after the ruling on Wednesday, AfriForum, a minority rights lobby group, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) said they would work together to find common ground as advised by Judge Phineas Mojapelo.
Reacting to Roets’ tweet, NMF chief executive Sello Hatang said he was disappointed.
“We shook hands after the judgment and I said I would write to them for a follow-up on what the judge said... but then not only did they pooh-pooh the judgment, but about an hour later the deputy CEO of AfriForum posted the apartheid flag on his Twitter page, and that is such an unfortunate thing to happen,” Hatang told Radio 702.
AfriForum opposed the NMF’s court application to have the old flag deemed illegal. The organisation said the subsequent judgment was a setback for freedom of speech in the country and that it would need time to study the judgment before it could respond comprehensively and detail its way forward.
Responding to his critics on Twitter, Roets said his question accompanying the old flag was an academic one.
“The reaction to this tweet is as expected. The judgment said the flag may be used for academic purposes.
“I am a scholar of constitutional law, currently doing my doctorate. This is an academic question.
“It seems the NMF’s quest for apartheid-style censorship and banning continues.”