BLF must be held accountable for murder pronouncements – Solidarity

10 December 2018

Solidarity today announced that it will approach the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to file a complaint against the BLF in order to stop the party from participating in next year’s elections. 

This follows after the fringe party’s leader, Andile Mngxitama, urged an audience at a BLF event this past weekend to kill five white people for every one black person that dies because of taxi violence. 

According to Solidarity, section 16(1)(c) of the Electoral Commission Act makes it clear that the Chief Electoral Officer may not register a party if such party is guilty of the incitement of violence or discrimination in accordance with generally accepted grounds. Moreover, Solidarity gave its support to the Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) opposition to register the BLF as a political party.

According to Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), it is absurd that a party, where pronouncements like these are the norm, form part of the public discourse, and above all can take part in elections. “No political leader that announces with pride on a stage that people will be murdered should be allowed in a position of power where he can perform these actions. A party seeking a mandate of murder, mustn’t be allowed to participate in democracy,” Mulder said. 

“Despite the fact that Mngxitama’s pronouncements are becoming more radical, BLF is still invited to participate in the parliamentary debate about land expropriation. This causes an offensive ideologue to be regarded as a reasonable voice in South Africa’s ideology, which is a disgrace,” Mulder said.

“There should be a realisation that there are consequences to your actions. We aren’t asking for special attention for some people, but merely that you should be held accountable for your actions. Therefore, we are going to request the IEC to step in. Words carry meaning and any insinuation that Mngxitama’s words were merely a metaphor or a reaction, is still born. When political leaders threaten with murder for political gain it should be taken to heart, and they should be kept away from political power,” Mulder said. 

Issued by Francois Redelinghuys, Spokesperson, Solidarity, 10 December 2018