Pretoria - Lobby groups AfriForum and AfriBusiness are preparing to take EFF leader Julius Malema to court to prevent him from making public statements about land occupation.
Malema is preparing for a legal challenge on the Riotous Assemblies Act, having on two occasions in the past few days appeared in court for calling on his members occupy land.
The groups served court papers on Malema on Wednesday afternoon setting out their intention to head to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
They will ask that Malema be interdicted from inciting people to grab land and trespassing on private property with the aim of grabbing land.
If the application succeeds, it would mean Malema could be held in contempt of court and even jailed if he again encouraged his followers to grab or invade private land.
Catharina Cooks, of AfriForum, said in court papers the applicants were deeply concerned about the safety of investing in projects where land had to be bought in South Africa.
“There has to be certainty in regard to the strength and enforceability of property rights for economic stability and growth. If, for instance, property rights are not respected, financial institutions will become reluctant to advance loans or use land as a form of security,” Cooks said.
She added that this would curtail economic growth and stability as many individuals or entities would not have access to funding to start or expand their businesses.
Cooks said it was known that Malema and other EFF members had over the years incited people to occupy land belonging to others.
It is widely publicised that Malema and his leadership called on their members to also invade unoccupied land, especially close to areas where they lived.
Malema even said that the EFF would create a fund to assist people who were arrested for these land invasions. Cook said the fact that such a fund had been set up only enticed the people more to invade land and thus commit a crime.
Land owners had on various occasions had to turn to the courts to stop land invasion.
Stefan Pieterse, of AfriForum, said the application was due to be heard early next year. But if things got out of hand, they would consider approaching the court on an urgent basis.
Pretoria News