The DA has welcomed the ruling by the Constitutional Court to uphold an interdict preventing Julius Malema and the EFF from encouraging people to invade and occupy private land.

In a statement on the Politicsweb site, Thandeka Mbabama, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development said it was a major victory for the rule of law and private property rights, and a repudiation of the EFF’s politics of anarchy.

Mbabama says the EFF had approached the Constitutional Court with dirty hands. 

‘You cannot ask the highest court in SA to rule in favour of actions that are in clear violation of the Bill of Rights and the foundations of our constitutional democracy. EFF leaders should hang their heads in shame for using unlawful populist antics to hijack people’s legitimate concerns on lack of housing to ferment anarchy as a means of scoring cheap political points. The courts have made it clear that the EFF’s illegal actions have no place in our society and that respect for property rights is grounded in the rule of law.’

According to Mbabama, should any EFF public representative or member in future actively promote the illegal invasion of land, they will be in contempt of court and can be criminally charged for their action.

‘Malema and members of his party must immediately stop inciting illegal land invasions and realise that they are now under legal notice to respect the property rights of law-abiding South African citizens.’

Full statement on the Politicsweb site