AfriForum will not further appeal against the hate speech case ruling that limits the complete ban on the old flag

25 April 2023

The civil rights organisation AfriForum, in light of the fact that the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein modified the Equality Court’s initial order that “any” display of the old flag is hate speech, by now specifically prohibiting “unsolicited public display”, decided not to oppose appeal against this ruling.

AfriForum remains opposed to banning orders regarding symbols. After thorough discussion, AfriForum decided not to spend any further legal resources on the old flag case by taking it to the Constitutional Court. AfriForum will continue to monitor the situation to prevent the flag case from opening the doors to increasing banning orders on other fronts.

According to Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum, AfriForum will now focus its legal resources on fighting the dangerous double standards on hate speech in the current political order and in the courts.

“There are no grounds for a symbol displayed without a call to violence to be declared hate speech, while the Kill the Boer chant, through which the EFF incites murder on ethnic grounds, is considered acceptable by the courts,” says Van Zyl.

“The farmers of our country are still brutally harassed and targeted by the EFF’s hateful Kill the Boer chant. AfriForum’s focus is to defeat these harmful double standards on behalf of farmers and the ethnic minority groups who are endangered by this chant,” concludes Van Zyl.

AfriForum is currently still waiting for a court date in the Supreme Court of Appeal for the Kill the Boer case.

Issued by Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer: Strategy and Content, AfriForum, 25 April 2023