AfriForum welcomes ruling on flag tweet 

17 September 2019

The application by the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) that Ernst Roets, AfriForum’s Head of Policy and Action, had committed contempt of court was rejected by Judge Colin Lamont in the South Gauteng High Court today.

The complaint was brought by the NMF after Roets had tweeted an image of the old South African flag, asking: “Did I just commit hate speech?” The complaint relates to a recent ruling by Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo that the gratuitous display of the old South African flag amounts to hate speech.

According to Judge Lamont, the ruling by Judge Mojapelo’s was a declaratory order and Roets’s action therefore does not amount to hate speech. 

“We are delighted with the ruling, even though we were expecting it. This confirms what AfriForum has said right from the start: This is a witch-hunt by the NMF against anyone who express themselves in manner that is not aligned with the ideas of the ruling elite,” Roets says.

Issued by Hesti Steenkamp, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 17 September 2019