POLITICS

Gordhan: Ruling a victory for right to free speech – EFF

Fighters say Minister tried to suppress Malema’s right to call him out as a ‘dog of white monopoly’

EFF welcomes the dismissal of Pravin Gordhan’s frivolous hate speech application against Julius Malema

31 October 2019

The EFF welcomes the dismissal of Pravin Gordhan's Hate Speech application with costs, by the Johannesburg High Court. Gordhan ran to court seeking the suppression of the EFF and CIC Julius Malema's right to free speech and political campaigning. He sought to suppress our right to call him out as the lapdog of White Monopoly Capitalism; more precisely a dog of white monopoly capital.

We welcome the court's dismissal as a victory of political rights to free speech which is the only tool opposition parties have to question the powerful. Without the right to publicly criticize those in power, like Gordhan, we are unable to exercise accountability over the executive and its decisions. Many powerful politicians have ran to court seeking to silence the opposition through defamation suits. They do this so that their actions do not get scrutinized, criticized and interrogation by opposition party leaders. The court judgment today is a powerful signal to all of them that they must not use our courts to curtail accountability and scrutiny over their actions.

Long has Pravin Gordhan felt himself above the law. He has conducted himself as untouchable when he presided over cruel projects of espionage in The Rogue Unit. The EFF welcomes the court outcome and will continue its battle to expose Gordhan to the end.

Issued by Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, National Spokesperson, 31 October 2019