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- EFF leader Julius Malema’s threats against members of the police were “extremely reckless,” according to the legal expert.
- Another legal expert said his comments could be seen as a danger to police on and off duty.
- Malema threatened police officers while addressing his followers on Sunday.
The statements made by EFF leader Julius Malema over the weekend against members of the police were extremely reckless and unfortunate and could be read as a danger to police on and off duty, legal experts told News24.
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.
He 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 against them in the picket line, we will go to their homes and we will fight against them in their homes, with their families. We are not afraid of the police.
Malema said that the party will continue to persecute racists everywhere.
But expert legal attorney Deon Pool told News24: “It is extremely unwise to make comments like that.”
Pool said Malema was a prominent figure and that his followers tended to take what he said as “gospel.”
He added that Malema’s comments constituted hate speech and incited violence.
READ | ‘Reckless, irresponsible, dangerous’: Cele criticizes Malema’s ‘threats’ against SAPS
“In my opinion, it is inciting hate speech and violence. It creates danger, especially for police officers working in rural areas. [areas] and at night, especially our policewomen.
“We have problems with gender violence and here we have a leader who says that this is how we should act.”
Pool said Police Minister Bheki Cele should request an order prohibiting Malema from “making such comments, especially incitement to violence.”
Another legal expert, Professor Moses Retselisitsoe Phooko from the University of Johannesburg, said that political leaders had an influential role in society and should therefore behave responsibly.
He described Malema’s comments as unfortunate.
Phooko said:
While Mr. Malema enjoys freedom of expression, he must exercise [the] the same within the limits of the law. There are limitations to freedom of expression.
“Article 16 of the Constitution establishes that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, but Article 16 (2) excludes freedom of expression that is used as propaganda for war to incite imminent violence,” he added.
“In my opinion, given the speed at which police officers are dying due to violent acts, Mr. Malema’s comments were unfortunate and could be interpreted as a danger to the police on and off duty.
“His speech falls outside the constitutionally protected freedom of expression.”
Meanwhile, the AfriForum pressure group, the Solidaridad trade union and a high-ranking magistrate, acting in their private capacity, have opened defamation, incitement and assault cases against Malema.
READ ALSO | Police Minister and Popcru warn Malema against threats to law enforcement officers
KwaZulu-Natal Magistrate Ashin Singh filed a complaint on behalf of the concerned police officers.
Singh, a senior magistrate at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Court, submitted an affidavit to the police in his personal capacity.
He claimed that some police officers approached him concerned for his safety after Malema’s televised speech.
Singh said he was also approached by a group called the South African Minority Equal Rights Movement (Samrem) over Malema’s comments.
Samrem has previously criticized the EFF for comments claiming racism among people of Indian descent.
An excerpt from the complaint filed at the Mountain Rise Police Station stated: “It is common knowledge that, in the 1980s, several police officers died due to political unrest.
“As a member of Parliament, Malema should not be making threats, which constitute criminal conduct, against the South African police and their families.”
Singh alleged that Malema’s comments amounted to incitement and intimidation. In a joint statement, AfriForum and Solidarity said that more than 1,000 police officers had approached Solidarity to “express their concern about the threatening statements Malema made recently against members of the South African Police Service. [SAPS]”.
EFF spokesman Vuyani Pambo told News24 that the party noted “with the biggest yawn, the old and tired racist stance of the 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 hell-bent on litigating the EFF into oblivion.
“These open cases 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 all the police stations in South Africa, they know very well that they will not win and that they will not distract us. “
Police Minister Bheki Cele said Monday that the remarks were “reckless, irresponsible and dangerous”.
He called the police to protect himself.
In another statement issued Wednesday, Cele said that the EFF and its leader had every right to express their views on the current government.
But he said the threat to the lives of the police, as well as their loved ones and homes, would not be tolerated or allowed.
Cele added that there would be consequences for anyone who acted on the threats against police officers.
The minister’s spokesman, Lirandzu Themba, told News24 that the police were investigating the number of open cases against Malema.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued Thursday, the prosecutor said Cele should press charges against Malema.
“We cannot stand by and allow the working members of SAPS and their families to be threatened in this way. Our police officers and our policewoman deserve better. The district attorney will defend their rights,” he added.
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