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- AfriForum and union Solidarity criminal charges have been filed against EFF leader Julius Malema.
- Malema threatened police officers while speaking to EFF supporters on Sunday.
- Ernst Roets of AfriForum says it is clear that Malema believes he is “above the law”.
The pressure group AfriForum and the Solidaridad union opened criminal cases of defamation, conspiracy to incite violence and aggression against EFF leader Julius Malema on Wednesday.
In a joint statement, the organizations said that more than 1,000 police officers approached Solidaridad to “express their concern about the threatening statements Malema made recently against members of the South African Police Service (SAPS).”
On Sunday, while addressing supporters in the Free State’s Mohokare municipality, Malema said they were not afraid of the police, calling them “cowards,” News24 previously reported.
Malema also said:
“Yes [the] The South African police want a fight, they must declare it. We will treat them the same way we treated them in the 80s [1980s]. We will not only fight them on the picket line, we will go to their homes and we will fight them in their own homes, with their own families. We are not afraid of the police. “
Malema said the party would continue to persecute racists everywhere.
In reaction, Police Minister Bheki Cele said Monday that the remarks were “reckless, irresponsible and dangerous.”
Cele asked the police to protect themselves.
In a follow-up statement on Wednesday, Cele said the EFF and its leader had every right to express their views on the current government.
“However, the threat to the lives of the police, their loved ones and their homes will not be tolerated or allowed to happen,” he said.
He added that there would be consequences for anyone acting on threats against police officers or their family members.
READ | ‘Reckless, irresponsible, dangerous’: Cele criticizes Malema’s ‘threats’ against SAPS
AfriForum Policy and Action chief Ernst Roets said it was clear that Malema believed he was “above the law.”
“The reason Malema has been making these statements in the first place is that, thus far, there have been no consequences for all the previous incidents, where he openly incited violence. If the police do not take up this matter with the Seriously enough, Malema will see it as confirmation that he is indeed above the law, “said Roets.
Shock
Meanwhile, the Sectorial Coordinator of Solidarity for the Public Sector, Renate Barnard, said that they have been inundated by police officers from all over the country expressing their “shock, dismay and total disgust at Malema’s words and threats.”
“It is unacceptable for a political leader, who has taken an oath to honor and respect the Constitution and other laws of the land, to rage against the police in such a violent manner,” Barnard said.
READ ALSO | Police Minister and Popcru warn Malema against threats to law enforcement officers
The statement further states that AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit will continue to monitor the matter to ensure justice was served.
“If Malema is not processed by the National Prosecutor’s Office, the Private Prosecutor’s Office will process him privately.”
EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo told News24 that the party noted “with the biggest yawn, the old and tired stance of the racist AfriForum of opening baseless cases against the commander-in-chief.”
Pambo added:
AfriForum has made the EFF its program of action because the EFF is the only organization that is fighting for the expropriation of land without compensation and, for that very reason, AfriForum is determined to lead the EFF into oblivion. These cases were opened against the commander. in chief are meant to muzzle, silence the EFF. It will not work [and] they can open a million cases against the commander-in-chief in every police station in South Africa, they know very well that they will not win and they will not distract us.
