Following his pre-sentencing appearance in the East London Magistrate’s Court on firearm-related convictions, EFF leader Julius Malema launched a tirade against AfriForum and the judiciary, accusing them of using the courts to fight political battles and claiming judicial processes are driven by political hatred.
This claim is false and profoundly irresponsible.
In South Africa, approaching a court is not a political weapon; it is a constitutional right. When an organisation or individual lays charges after the law has been broken, they are exercising one of the most fundamental protections in a constitutional democracy. These are critical rights.
Malema’s threats to “lock up” AfriForum members for using the courts, and to punish people for exercising their rights to free speech and freedom of association, show exactly why those rights must be defended, and why he can never be allowed anywhere near power.
Malema was not convicted because of race, ideology, or political rivalry. He was convicted because evidence was tested in court and the Firearms Control Act was applied to his conduct. That is how accountability works in a country governed by law, not by intimidation or political theatrics.
His attack on the judiciary follows a familiar pattern: when the facts are inconvenient, the institutions are blamed. This rhetoric is not about justice; it is about evading responsibility and mobilising outrage when the legal process does not deliver a preferred outcome.
This is precisely why the Democratic Alliance was right in 2023 to declare that keeping the EFF out of power is a primary objective. One does not need to agree with any association or organisation to defend their fundamental rights. If those rights can be stripped from one group today, they can be stripped from anyone tomorrow.
South Africans are tired of these old tricks. A lawful, stable democracy is built in courtrooms and not threatened from outside them.