The Democratic Alliance announced on Thursday that it will be reporting Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema to the Equality Court for what it deems to be hate speech and incitement of violence.
On Tuesday, Malema threatened to remove the DA's Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Athol Trollip, should the party fail to show support for land expropriation without compensation.
The DA quoted him as saying:
[W]e are going to remove a mayor of PE [...] [w]e are going for your white man in PE. We are going to cut the throat.
The alleged comments amounted to hate speech and incitement of violence in terms of section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, according to DA spokesperson Refiloe Nt'sekhe.
"While these kinds of vile and bigoted statements have come to characterise the EFF and its leader, they have no place in South Africa and only undermines our constitutional democracy," said Nt'sekhe.
"The fact is that the EFF is willing to sacrifice the delivery of services and hand over NMB to the same corrupt and ineffective ANC the people of Port Elizabeth voted out of power," said Nt'sekhe.
On Wednesday, Malema also accused the DA of not "appreciating the pain that comes with the brutal land dispossession".
The DA said the comments were an attempt to "distort the DA's commitment to redressing the history of violent land dispossession of black South Africans".
"The EFF's policy of land reform will not serve those who have been dispossessed of land. Their proposal will mean that all land, no matter who owns it, will be given to the state," Nt'sekhe said.
Neither Malema nor EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was immediately available to comment on the allegations.
-- News24