Stop the double standards in hate speech cases.
Julius Malema gets away with it. Others don’t. One rule for politicians, one rule for civilians. It is time to stop the double standards in hate speech cases and fight for equality before the law.
Fund the Free Market Foundation’s Rule of Law Project to bring this argument into the spotlight, as a friend of the court in the case against Julius Malema in the Supreme Court of Appeal in September 2023.
Latest Press Statements
‘Defending Equality before the Law, Non-Racialism in Court’ On 4 September 2023, the Rule of Law Project, an initiative of the Free Market Foundation (FMF), will join court proceedings at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) during AfriForum’s appeal against the ruling by the Equality Court in favour of Julius Malema
Recent judgements in our courts shows that our legal system has no problem with specific politicians – you guessed it, Julius Malema – threatening the rights of peaceful, ordinary South-Africans. While the debate around hate speech and freedom of expression is an important one, we believe there is another argument – one even bigger than the Malema debate – to be made.
Politicians must be bound by the same hate speech rules that civilians are – the Rule of Law Project’s submission to the Supreme Court of Appeal
One rule for politicians, one rule for civilians.
This is the very opposite of the supremacy of the Rule of Law guaranteed in section 1(c) of the South African Constitution.
But it is precisely the position taken by South Africa’s superior courts when adjudicating so-called ‘hate speech’ cases: politicians who engage in speech that advocates hatred and incites harm on the basis of race are treated with kid-gloves, but when ordinary civilians express themselves in repugnant and objectionable ways, they are often imprisoned and fined into bankruptcy.
The Rule of Law Project, an initiative of the Free Market Foundation, has been admitted as a friend of the court in the well-publicised litigation of AfriForum against Julius Malema.
The Project’s aim is not to wade into the debate about the acceptable limits of freedom of expression, but rather to advise the Supreme Court of Appeal on the importance of applying whatever the applicable principle is equally. It should not be the case in a constitutional democracy that powerful politicians are treated with deference while the book is thrown at powerless subjects.
The matter will be heard on 4 September 2023, with judgment being expected at a later date.
The Rule of Law Project is an initiative of the Free Market Foundation
© 2023 Rule of Law Project
