JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JULY 06: Karima Brown during the protest against SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng outside the Auckland studios on July 06, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The SACP lashed out at Motsoeneng for using the 90% local quota to “divide workers in the creative industries and to sow confusion among the public – Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – JULY 06: Karima Brown during the protest against SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng outside the Auckland studios on July 06, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The SACP lashed out at Motsoeneng for using the 90% local quota to “divide workers in the creative industries and to sow confusion among the public – Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla
[Graphic warning]: The details of the abuse Karima Brown received from alleged EFF supporters are extremely offensive, and sensitive viewers are advised to continue with discretion. The messages appear after the sixth paragraph.
The Johannesburg High Court has entered the first day of the showdown between veteran journalist Karima Brown and the EFF. The two parties are squaring off after party leader Julius Malema inadvertently shared her contact details online, opening her up to a firestorm of personal abuse and death threats.
Malema has since admitted his mistake, but any form of apology has been far from sincere. Just 24 hours ago, he was reiterating his belief that Brown is “an ANC operative” whose using her power in the media to suppress the red berets – an unsubstantiated allegation that has been wholeheartedly rejected by the reporter.
How we’ve ended up in court
Karima Brown was initially targeted because they accidentally received one of her editorial notes. She had advised her colleagues to “monitor” an EFF gathering back in March but accidentally sent it to a group chat meant for party members. They took offence to her plans and began to hound her online.
Juju, with a following of 2.3 million people on Twitter, then shared her message on his page without obscuring the contact number. What followed next was a barrage of abuse, disgusting threats and vows to take her life.
For the first time since the incident occurred the details of the depraved messages have been exposed, as court papers were made public on Monday. Here’s what the judge – and the entire gallery – have been confronted with: And, just to make ourselves clear, this content is not for the faint-hearted.
[Graphic] – The messages Karima Brown received from alleged EFF supporters:
“Leave EFF alone. We won’t tell you again. Msuun ka nyoko [your mother’s asshole]”
“We’re not playing here. We are dealing with racists. Step aside or we will crush your prolapsed vagina.”
“We know where to find you now, spook.”
“[Keep] your dirty hands off EFF motherfucker. We’ll die for Juju or we’ll kill for him.”
“Karin (sic), there will come a time where we kill ur people and enjoy every second of it. How we wish to peel that skin off your pink bodies.”
“We aren’t ANC ppl that u harrassing there. I will pay money so that they may deal with u. And don’t use ur cheap political gender base of rape here.”
Karima Brown vs EFF: Opening arguments
Both legal counsels have made their opening arguments on Monday. Geoff Budlender is the advocate representing Karima Brown. He started by claiming Malema has breached both the Electoral Code and the Electoral Act. The lawyer accused Juju of having “no basic knowledge of law”, saying he can’t accuse people of being agents “without any evidence”.
Meanwhile, Vuyani Ngalwana went into bat for Julius Malema. He accused Brown of clearly wanting to “deregister” the EFF, and argued that the journalist has not conducted herself in an “objective manner.”
- For reference, you can see the full scale of the abusive messages here:
#BrownvsEFF These are some of the messages and tweets Brown recieved from EFF supporters after Malema published her number on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/jBslIum04y
— Govan Whittles (@van1go) May 6, 2019
