The High Court in Pretoria dismissed Julius Malema and the EFF’s application for leave to appeal against an interdict that AfriForum acquired in 2017, which prohibited Malema and the EFF from inciting people to trespass on private property and to illegally occupy it. 

The court also ordered Malema and the EFF to pay AfriForum’s legal costs.

ALSO READ: EFF and leader Malema must pay AfriForum another R109 000 court costs order

With this judgement, Justice PM Mabuse reinforced and relied on an earlier Constitutional Court judgment that emphasised the unconstitutionality of incitement to trespass on private property and the serious criminal nature of any incitement to endanger private property owners or the right to private property.

In a statement issued by AfriForum, the judgment is described as "a major win for private property rights and a blow to those who wish to incite criminality, violence or lawlessness."

"AfriForum welcomes Judge Mabuse’s judgment which adds the necessary emphasis on the serious criminal nature of inciting people to trespass on and illegally occupy private property," says Ernst van Zyl, campaign officer at AfriForum.

OFM News