EFF leader Julius Malema has been dealt a blow by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
This after the court dismissed his and the EFF’s bid to appeal an interdict by AfriForum that prevents them from inciting land invasions. Malema had encouraged his followers and party members to occupy land at the party elective conference in Bloemfontein, Free State back in 2014.
The interdict that was granted to AfriForum in 2017 prevents him and the EFF from trespassing on private property and illegally occupying it. The EFF and its leader had approached both the High Court in Pretoria in January 2023 and the Constitutional Court in March 2023, to have the decision overturned but they failed.
AfriForum said this was the fifth loss for Malema and the EFF in the same matter.
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“In January 2023, Malema and the EFF applied for leave to appeal in this case with the High Court in Pretoria – the application was dismissed. They then took the matter to the Constitutional Court, who dismissed their application in March 2023. Even after the highest court in South Africa – the Constitutional Court – dismissed their application for leave to appeal, they approached the Supreme Court of Appeal. Today’s definitive verdict by the Supreme Court of Appeal leaves Malema and the EFF with no further options for appeal,” said AfriForum’s Ernst van Zyl
He said this was the final defeat for Malema and the EFF because they have exhausted all avenues.
He said the court has now established law that incitement to trespass and invade land is a serious crime.
“Even though this fight against the incitement of criminality by thugs is now conclusively over, the question still needs to be asked: Why were Malema and the EFF so intensely desperate to be allowed to incite land invasions?” said Van Zyl.
