BLF establishes its own private prosecution unit
Concerned that only black people are being targeted by private prosecutions‚ the Black First Land First group announced it had established its own private litigation and prosecution unit.
"Our main area of focus is to start with the cases that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are sitting on that involve serious white-collar corruption. We will soon be writing both to the police commissioner and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) and demanding the status of investigations with regard to the cases that we intend to target‚" the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
"This includes those cases that involve senior NPA officials‚ past and present‚ who‚ in turn‚ divert the attention away from themselves‚ and pretend to be holy cows‚ while working in cohorts with the General Council of the Bar (GCB)‚ FUL [Freedom Under Law] and AfriForum for self-servings ends‚" the statement continued.
The group criticised AfriForum's own private prosecution unit which is led by prominent prosecutor‚ Gerrie Nel.
"Their targets are all black people or people who are or perceived to be of a certain political affiliation. Those NGOs will never demand prosecution of General Johan Booysen for the massacre of about 28 people during the reign of terror of the Cato Manor death squad of the South African Police Service (SAPS). To the contrary‚ they project him as a hero. And the list is endless‚" the BLF said.
The organisation‚ which is led by former EFF member Andile Mngxitama‚ said AfriForum “cannot be allowed to have free reign to reverse our gains by practicing racism under the guise of the rule of law”.