Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have defended themselves against the South African Human Rights Commission’s threat to take them to the Equality Court.
On Wednesday, the red berets slammed suggestions by the SAHRC that they promoted hatred and incited violence during last month's Western Cape elective conference.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the SAHRC threatened to take EFF leader Julius Malema to the Equality Court within 10 days if he does not apologise and retract his statement made during last month's People's Assembly.
Malema is reported to have called taking up guns a revolutionary act that every revolutionary should do at one point of their lives. The commission said it had a problem with the statement: "Why did Mandela take up a gun? He took up a gun because the revolution had reached a point where there is no longer an alternative but to kill."
However, the EFF has slammed this assertion by the commission, with the party spokesperson Sinawo Tambo retorting: "The EFF completely refutes the allegations by the South African Human Rights Commission because we think they are not only ignorant but they are baseless and lack appreciation of the political history of South Africa."
Tambo said some of these statements were taken out of context, adding that the commission incorrectly and ignorantly labelled these comments as incitement to violence and hate speech without appreciating the contextual elements within which these comments were made.
"Firstly, any commentary taken out of its context can be manipulated and distorted, which is the trap the Human Rights Commission has fallen into at the altar of the egos and fragility of whiteness," the party said.
Tambo said when Malema said violence begets violence and can be ended through violence and by any means necessary, he was correct against the backdrop of white supremacy.
"The anti-blackness witnessed in Brackenfell, where white people assaulted peaceful protesters, and the monopoly of wealth by a white minority at the expense of a black minority is violence," Tambo said.
The Star