Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema is set to appear in the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday on charges relating to violating the Riotous Assemblies Act.

Malema faces two charges for the contravention of section 18 (2) (b) of the Riotous Assemblies Act. The summons alleges that on December 16, 2014, during the party’s elective conference, Malema incited party members to commit a crime, by occupying any vacant land they came across.

A second summons indicated that he has been charged a second time for a similar transgression for making the same call in Newcastle on June 26, 2016.

It was widely reported in 2014 that AfriForum had laid charges against Malema for the land invasion speech at UFS.

In reacting to the summons, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu called the move an "apartheid-era tactic".

"The state takes the act of charging him for a political speech, exactly what the apartheid murderous regime used to do," said Shivambu.

He said the government was using a 1956 law to go after Malema.

"We have degenerated back to what the apartheid regime used to do. The ANC is behaving exactly the same way as the apartheid regime used to do. They absolved themselves from killing workers in Marikana, now its employing racist apartheid-era tactics."

In September, a procedural mishap, involving a notice the EFF filed at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, led to a delay in the party's challenge to the constitutionality of the Riotous Assemblies Act.

The EFF has a poor track record in court cases brought against it by AfriForum, having lost five cases since March 17.

Court proceedings are expected to commence at 09:30.