AfriForum granted leave to appeal Dubul’ ibhunu judgment

Lobby group AfriForum has been granted leave to appeal the recent court judgment against it on the “Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer” court case. AfriForum, which lost against the EFF at the Equality Court sitting at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg in August, was on Tuesday allowed to appeal the ruling made by Judge Edwin Molahlehi in August.

In the past, AfriForum has taken the EFF to court over the singing of the Struggle song known as “Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer” at various gatherings by members of the party.

The case went to trial in the Johannesburg High Court in June, with Judge Molahlehi dismissing it in August.

Last month AfriForum filed an application to the Supreme Court of Appeal to appeal Judge Molahlehi's ruling, which was granted on Tuesday.

In August, Judge Molahlehi had ruled that the singing of the Struggle song did not amount to hate speech.

“It does not constitute hate speech and deserves to be protected under the rubric of freedom of speech as it is the failure of the current government to address issues of economic empowerment and land invasion,” Judge Molahlehi said when giving his judgment.

Following Judge Molahlehi's ruling, AfriForum promised to appeal this judgment when it was handed down, and on Tuesday the interest group was afforded leave to appeal the recent judgment by the Equality Court.

In granting AfriForum leave to appeal, the judge said they had made out a case that there were at least reasonable prospects of success and that the matter had elements of public interest. He also said that whether there were other compelling reasons, including issues of public interest, had to be considered.

“Applying a test for leave to appeal as envisaged in section 17 of the Superior Court 127 Act, I am satisfied that there are reasonable prospects of a success on appeal. This matter, in my view, has elements of public interest and thus leave to appeal deserves to be granted to the Supreme Court of Appeal,” read the order granting the lobby group leave to appeal the recent ruling.

In 2011, EFF leader Julius Malema was found guilty of hate speech by the Johannesburg High Court when Judge Colin Lamont ruled that the “morality of society dictates” that he and others should be responsible with the use of words including words in the songs as contained in the Struggle song “Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer”, which was popularised by former ANC stalwart Peter Mokaba and many others.

However, the EFF appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court of Appeal and the matter was withdrawn after parties agreed to mediate.

The EFF has not reacted to the order granting AfriForum leave to appeal. This is a developing story.