FF Plus heads to Equality Court in a bid to ban BLF from participating in election

29th April 2019 By: News24Wire

FF Plus heads to Equality Court in a bid to ban BLF from participating in election

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) is expected to head back to the Electoral Court in a bid to prevent the Black First Land First (BLF) from participating in the general elections. 

The FF Plus has previously said that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) erred in registering the BLF. 

FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald believes they have a strong case as the Electoral Commission Act prohibits IEC from registering a party that excludes people from joining based on race, ethnicity and skin colour. 

Last month, the FF Plus initiated their case with the Electoral Court, but withdrew it shortly before the court date, because it didn't want to lose on a technical point, as it has not appealed to the IEC. 

It has since done that, but the IEC dismissed its appeal. 

"We withdrew our case on Friday because we said there is a jurisdictional technical argument that the Electoral Commission is making in their opposing affidavits that can go 50-50, and we feel it is very important that we do not lose this case on a technical argument," FF Plus MP Wouter Wessels told News24.

Wessels said the substance of the party's case was strong and no opposing parties would oppose its merits.

Speaking outside court after being told that the FF Plus had withdrawn its case, BLF leader Andile Mngxitama said the party had wasted its campaign time by working on the case, only for it to withdraw. 

"We arrived here ready to fight. We were ready to defeat them and they have run away. The Freedom Front Plus have ran away, they have chickened out," Mngxitama said.

He also threatened that if any court stopped the party from being a blacks-only organisation, it would go underground and start an armed struggle.

"Any court, anybody stopping us from going into the elections, we will start an armed struggle," he said.