It is time for the National Assembly to take note of and act against one-sided statements by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) that do not protect the rights of all South Africans. Therefore, TLU SA has, in light of the recent overturning of an HRC ruling on Julius Malema’s hate speech in 2016 by the high court, written a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Chairperson of the HRC, Professor Bongani Majola.
TLU SA hopes this ruling will also pave the way for reconsidering cases that the HRC did not want to investigate as hate speech. In May 2023, the HRC told TLU SA that Cosatu’s statements that farmers are murderers and rapists are merely offensive and do not violate human rights.
“We welcome the Johannesburg high court’s ruling on the HRC’s finding regarding Malema’s hate speech,” says Bennie van Zyl, general manager of TLU SA. “We also thank the FW de Klerk Foundation and AfriForum for driving the case.”
“The HRC has shown in various statements, especially when it concerns white Afrikaners and farmers, that the body seeks to promote a specific ideology rather than the human rights of all South Africans. Therefore, we welcome this ruling as the beginning of exposing the HRC.”
In the letter, TLU SA requested that HRC rulings considered unfair by South Africans be submitted to a tribunal for review. TLU SA further recommends that the body’s commissioners be dismissed, and the repayment of salaries be considered because the HRC has either misunderstood or abused its mandate.
“Regarding Malema, we would like to see the hate-filled statements that now qualify as hate speech result in a criminal record for him, preventing him from serving as a parliamentarian,” says Van Zyl. “Julius Malema has caused irreparable damage to trust in the country since his first public speech. Under the protection of the HRC, he incited murder and violence without any consequences. It is time for him to be held accountable for that.”
