AfriForum to appeal old SA flag ruling

AFRIFORUM is set to appeal the Equality Court’s ruling on the display the old South African flag.

This comes after the court sitting at the South Gauteng High Court in August ruled the gratuitous display of the old flag would now amount to hate speech.

Judge Phineas Mojapelo of the Equality Court at the time added his ruling extended to public and private areas with the exception where the flag is displayed for “genuine artistic, academic or journalistic expression in the public interest”.

At its press conference today, AfriForum is expected to also reveal organisations that will support it in its legal bid.

It will also address the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal in the Qwelane vs the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and others in which the court ruled that Section 10 of the Equality Act dealing with hate speech is unconstitutional.

“The civil rights organisation will also explain what effect this will have on AfriForum’s appeal case regarding the old South African flag,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in September the South Gauteng High Court ruled that AfriForum head of policy Ernst Roets was not in contempt of court by posting flag pictures hours after the court declared its public display as constituting hate speech.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) had approached the court on an urgent basis in a bid to have both AfriForum and Roets declared as being in contempt of court but the application was dismissed.

However, the NMF has indicated it will appeal the decision by the court to dismiss its application.