The EFF’s call for land invasions came under scrutiny at the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) yesterday, where the party has been accused of inciting poor people to engage in illegal land grabs only for them to suffer alone when their homes are demolished, notes a report in The Mercury.

The EFF appeared before the commission’s inquiry aimed at probing complaints of land grabs, overcrowding and lack of basic services in Alexandra, Johannesburg, which triggered violent protests in April.

Last week, scores of families were left homeless in the township after the Red Ants and police evicted them and demolished their illegal structures. Several members of the inquiry’s panel pressed EFF provincial chairperson Mandisa Mashego to answer to allegations that the EFF was inciting poor people knowing that politicians would not be the ones who would be humiliated through evictions.

Mashego said the party would continue calling for land invasions, as the government continued to fail the poor.

Mashego said the party – which is reportedly pushing to install its candidate as mayor for the DA-led Tshwane metro – would continue encouraging land occupations, even if it was in charge of the some municipalities.

‘The only thing that would make us sort of relax our programme is if section 25 of the Constitution is changed (to facilitate expropriation without compensation),’ Mashego said.

According to SAHRC’s senior legal officer Alexandra Fitzgerald, some of the homeowners in Alexandra complained to the commission during its inspection that the DA-led metro was unable to enforce its by-laws relating to land grabs as it did not want to lose the support of the EFF, which helped it dislodge the ANC in 2016.

Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)