The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has condemned “in the strongest terms” what it called a violent disturbance by Black First Land First (BLF) members at its Gauteng office in Johannesburg on Monday.
A pair of spectacles was also “violently taken from the CEO’s [Tseliso Thipanyane] face and was only returned after some time”‚ the commission said.
“The Commission had to call the South African Police Service (SAPS) to intervene. However‚ the BLF members had left the premises before the SAPS’s arrival‚” the SAHRC said in a statement.
It said the BLF members were on the premises as the Equality Court had referred a settlement negotiation‚ arising out of a complaint lodged by a member of the public. The allegation against BLF‚ was that they had contravened section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act‚ 2000 (PEPUDA or the Equality Act‚ Act No. 4 of 2000).