Johannesburg – The Free Market Foundation (FMF) has announced that it is going to join the AfriForum v Julius Malema hate speech appeal “as a friend of the court” on Monday next week.
“On 4 September 2023, the Rule of Law Project, an initiative of the Free Market Foundation (FMF), will join court proceedings at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) during AfriForum’s appeal against the ruling by the Equality Court in favour of Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF),” the FMF said on Tuesday.
The Equality Court previously found against AfriForum, concluding that the EFF and Malema were not guilty of hate speech in their singing of “Dubul’ ibhunu” (Kill the Boer).
The FMF Rule of Law Project said it believes that in light of the Equality Court’s judgment, the court’s application of hate speech law has become inconsistent, threatening equality before the law and the observance of non-racialism in judicial proceedings.
“The Rule of Law Project has approached the SCA as a friend of the court to guide precedent for all courts in the direction of equal application of hate speech law and non-racialism in any court cases,” explained the FMF.
“The Rule of Law Project has made written submissions to the Court regarding the appeal.
“Advocate Mark Oppenheimer, counsel for the Project, will also make oral submissions on the day.”
