South Africa's BLF Party Has Been Found Guilty of Hate Speech
The political party's controversial slogan 'Land or Death' has been found to constitute hate speech by the Equality Court.
South Africa's minor political party, Black First Land First (BLF), has been ordered by the Equality Court to remove their 'Land or Death' slogan from their public platforms including social media, regalia as well as website within one month of the court's ruling.
The slogan refers to any opposition to the land expropriation without compensation that will soon take place in South Africa.
The BLF has been causing quite a media storm this year. What began as more of a Black radical political movement has now become a fully fledged political party that only Black South Africans may join.
READ: South African Black Twitter is Freaking Out Over the Upcoming Elections
Just last year, Andile Mngxitama, the leader of the BLF, was in trouble after he claimed that his party would "kill five White people for every one Black person killed because of taxi violence", according to News24.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) subsequently reported him to both the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and Equality Court for inciting violence against White South Africans.
Now, the same Equality Court has ruled that the party's slogan constitutes hate speech and that they should remove it.
However, BLF's Deputy President, Zanele Lwana, has responded to the court's ruling by saying:
"We are not going to apologise for having 'Land or Death' as a slogan. We are not going to remove 'Land or Death' from any of our platforms or T-shirts. We are going to take this matter on appeal. We believe we are protected within the confines of the Constitution in terms of freedom of expression and association. We believe a different court will get to a different judgment."
