CAPE TOWN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday warned against demonstrating any allegiance to apartheid symbols, saying the move impairs the dignity of black people.
This serves to undermine all efforts aimed at building a new democratic society that is based on the values of justice, equality and freedom, the party said.
The party issued the statement after the Equality Court in Johannesburg ruled earlier on Wednesday that the gratuitous display and use of the apartheid flag constitutes hate speech, unfair discrimination and harassment.
Meting out the ruling, Judge Phineas Mojapelo said the gratuitous display of the apartheid flag demonstrates a clear intention to be hurtful, harmful and incites harm, promotes and incites hatred against black people in terms of the Equality Act.
The apartheid flag was displayed during recent protests against farm murders, prompting the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to lodge a complaint to the Equality Court.
The ANC welcomed the ruling and agreed with the court that those who displayed the apartheid flag consciously choose oppression over liberation, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said.
"The judgment is a vindication of the ANC's position that the old apartheid flag and apartheid paraphernalia are divisive and represents a hankering for our ugly past," Mabe said.
Displaying the apartheid flag, he said, is not only inconsistent with the values of the South African Constitution but also tends to reverse all the gains the country has made since 1994 to promote social cohesion and build a non-racial society.
The ANC calls on all South Africans to redouble their efforts towards building a united nation and to turn their backs on apartheid and all its symbols, Mabe said.
Also on Wednesday, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said the ruling against the displaying of the apartheid flag is not a complete victory until such a time when everyone in the country can unite and achieve diversity and unity.
Foundation CEO Sello Hatang said his organization hoped to work with all parties who were involved in the court process to build a united South Africa that does not discriminate.
