AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said a court order is not a recommendation that can be obeyed as the recipient sees fit
EFF President Julius Malema. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
AfriForum has filed a contempt of court complaint against the EFF and the party’s leader, Julius Malema. It calls for the party to be fined R500 000 and Malema to be sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment over persistent incitement to occupy land.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said a court order is not a recommendation that can be obeyed as the recipient sees fit.
He added that AfriForum filed the application for contempt of court with the Pretoria High Court on Friday.
This is after renewed calls by the party and its leader for illegal occupation of land, despite a court order obtained by AfriForum in 2017 prohibiting them from making such calls.
AfriForum files contempt application
“The EFF and Malema know exactly what the court order stipulates and have spent years unsuccessfully trying to overturn it.
“They are now wilfully ignoring the order. AfriForum will ensure that they face the consequences of their actions,” Kriel said.
He said the most recent incident was during a public EFF lecture on 23 July at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane. In that lecture, Malema referred to young people one day occupying a farm in Stellenbosch.
“In another incident, on 6 April, 2025, the EFF called on people to occupy land in a post on the party’s official X account.
“According to the post, ‘our people must go get the land’ and ‘occupy everywhere where they need to farm and build houses’,” he added.
Court order dates back to 2017
“AfriForum’s contempt of court application follows a court order issued in its favour on 7 March, 2017 and served on the EFF and Malema.
“This order prohibits the EFF and Malema from inciting, instigating, commanding, or procuring any individual to trespass or enter any land without the required permission of the owner or lawful occupant,” he said.
“Since then, the EFF and Malema have made several unsuccessful attempts to have the order set aside.
“Costs orders were awarded in AfriForum’s favour in the resulting judgments.
“The party and its leader ultimately approached the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“The application to the Constitutional Court was dismissed in March 2023, after which the application to the Supreme Court of Appeal also failed in June that year.
“A second attempt to have the order set aside by the Constitutional Court was also dismissed in September 2023,” he added.
‘This case is about the rule of law’
Kriel said this case was about the rule of law.
“AfriForum pursued this matter through the courts precisely because we believe that the rule of law applies to everyone.
“It cannot be that ordinary citizens are bound by court orders, while certain political parties and political leaders regard themselves as above the law and can openly disregard court orders without consequence,” he said.
Political analyst Dr Rene Oosthuizen said this was bigger than Afriforum and the EFF.
“If a court order has been repeatedly tested and upheld, then still openly calling for conduct that appears to contradict that order raises serious concerns and questions about respect for the rule of law,” she said.
Oosthuizen, however, cautioned that the court has still to decide on the contempt application.
“My main concern with this case is what it says about our democracy if political leaders can challenge the law when it suits them, while ordinary citizens are expected to obey it,” she said.
The EFF and Malema have not commented.
