Johnathan Paoli
THE recusal application by Afriforum of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Judge Raylene Keightley, has come under fire from the EFF, who said that the party was disgusted by Afriforum’s consistent and opportunistic legal attacks against the party and called this waste of the time of the judiciary, as nothing but an elaborate Fundraising exercise.
AfriForum, officially requested that acting Judge of Appeal Raylene Keightley recuse herself from further participation in the panel of judges who must rule on AfriForum’s appeal application against Julius Malema and the EFF’s use of the chant “Kill the Boer”.
This request was made after it came to light that Keightley had previously criticized AfriForum in court in 2018.
In a letter sent to the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Appeal earler in the month, AfriForum asked that Keightley should follow her conscience and recuse herself.
However, they indicated that if she does not do so, AfriForum will bring an official court application for her recusal from the panel.
AfriForum’s concern arises from their belief that Judge Keightley’s actions during the hearing in Bloemfontein, as well as her previous statements about AfriForum, gave rise to the reasonable suspicion that Judge Keightley is biased against AfriForum.
Afriforum chief executive Kallie Kriel said Keightley ruled against AfriForum in the Pretoria High Court case regarding Unisa’s decision to scrap Afrikaans as a language of instruction, despite the fact that she granted AfriForum leave to appeal against her ruling.
“AfriForum has always had high regard for the Supreme Court of Appeal and its judges, but this kind of conflict of interest and Keightley’s actions pose the danger that ordinary people may lose confidence in the courts,” said Kriel.
The Equality Court, last year October dismissed a hate speech case by Afriforum against EFF leaders Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, ruling that the singing of kill the boer was not hate speech, but a part of the political struggle, and should be allowed to be sung as freedom of speech and in the political arena.
“AfriForum’s application to recuse Judge Keightley, which is nothing short of hubris, reveals a misguided sense of superiority which has been established, enforced, and perpetuated by historical systems of oppression, including the concept of parliamentary sovereignty that has safeguarded white supremacist ideologies and secured their endorsement by our judicial institutions,” it said.
The party said that Afriforum’s intentions form part of an aim to coerce the courts into consistently ruling in favour of whites and land “thieves”and insisted that the EFF firmly opposes this agenda.
The party said that Afriforum’s actions are an attempt to frustrate the expected outcome of the “kill the boer” appeal and that they have resorted to attacking a female judge to further their narrow agenda, which cannot tolerate land justice and the progressiveness championed by the EFF.
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