EFF welcomes Supreme Court of Appeal judgment which dismissed AfriForum’s application to lift the ban on the application to lift the ban on the apartheid flag

24 April 2023

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the judgement by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which has dismissed the racist Afriforum's appeal to lift the ban on the Apartheid flag. Afriforum, a racist lobby group with Apartheid nostalgia sought to celebrate the flag of a regime which committed human rights atrocities in South Africa, and this judgement proves that they have no place in a democratic society.

The Supreme Court of Appeal rightfully deemed that the display of the Apartheid flag in a democratic society is tantamount to hate speech and harassment, and that that those who display it long for the racism of the past in which black people were degraded and discriminated against.

The EFF is vindicated by this judgement, in that we have long identified Afriforum as a gang of racists, who seek to undermine the history of liberation struggles in this country in favour of the promotion of racist symbols and the glorification of the conquest of African people. Anyone who dares to display the Apartheid Flag must face the full might of the law and be prosecuted for advancing hate and racism.

The EFF is of the firm belief that Die Stem, which sits at the centre of South Africa's national anthem serves the same hateful purpose as the Apartheid flag would in our society. It is a song which racists sang as they tortured freedom fighters in Vlakplaas, and it glorifies the ideals of white-supremacy and Afrikaner-entitlement, which claims dominion over the land of African people.

Just as the Apartheid Flag has been outlawed, so should Die Stem and all racist symbols and statues in South Africa.

Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 24 April 2023