BLF ordered to apologise to South Africans as 'Land or Death' slogan ruled hate speech
|Published
Johannesburg - The Equality Court on Monday ruled that the Black First Land First (BLF) political party's "Land or Death" slogan amounted to hate speech.
The matter went to court last year after Lucy Strydom, represented by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), took issue with the slogan, saying the party could not be allowed to continue propagating its rhetoric of violence and death against white people.
The BLF has been campaigning for this year's elections on the land platform, calling white people "racist land thieves" and threatening to kill them if they refused to accept land expropriation.
In her affidavit Strydom, who was represented by Advocate Teboho Mosikili, said she was also seeking an order for her complaint be submitted to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) with a view to instituting criminal proceedings against BLF leader Andile Mngxitama.
The clerk of the Equality Court has been directed to send a copy of the judgment to the DPP for the possible institution of criminal proceedings against the BLF and its leaders.
The BLF was also ordered to remove the slogan from its party regalia, social media accounts and website within a month.
The court also ordered BLF to tender a written apology to all South Africans within a month, adding that this apology should be published on the website of the SAHRC.
The Freedom Front Plus party is also mulling plans to have the BLF deregistered and disqualified from participating in national elections on Wednesday.
African News Agency/ANA
