The High Court in Johannesburg has found that lobby group Afriforum’s CEO Ernst Roets was not in contempt of court for posting a picture of the old South African flag on twitter.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation submitted an urgent application to the Court after Roets display a picture of the old flag on Twitter just hours after the Equality Court ruled that gratuitous displays of the flag constituted hate speech, harassment and unfair discrimination.
The Foundation is of the view that Roet’s actions were in bad faith and in contempt of court.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation had called on the court to find Erenst Roets in contempt of court, claiming that he blatantly defied a court order when he posted a picture of the old South African flag.
When the application was heard earlier this month, the Nelson Mandela Foundation submitted that Roets insulted the court by his actions and that he should be given a sentence of 30 days direct imprisonment for being in contempt of court.
However, Roets’ lawyer argued that he posted the picture of the old flag purely for academic purposes, which is allowed in the order made by the Equality Court.
