The lawyer representing the EFF argued in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) yesterday that journalist Karima Brown did not conduct herself in a fair, objective or professional manner in her criticism of the EFF, notes a News24 report. ‘The journalist we are dealing with is one who is intent on having a registered political party de-registered. That is the context. When one is confronted with these kinds of utterances by a journalist, is one to sit idly by and not express concern in a WhatsApp message a journalist has put out,’ Vuyani Ngalwana SC asked the court. Ngalwana was referring to several examples of commentary in which Brown was critical of the EFF. Among others, he cited an opinion piece in The Citizen in which Brown asked if a political party that attacks a woman journalist 'should be allowed to contest elections' and a message on an IEC media WhatsApp group which said she 'wants to end the EFF'. The issue at hand began when Brown mistakenly sent an editorial brief to an EFF media WhatsApp group. She wrote: ‘Keep an eye out for this. Who are these elders? Are they all male and how are they chosen? Keep watching brief.’ The message was quickly deleted but not before EFF leader Julius Malema was able to take a screenshot which was posted on his personal Twitter profile (followed by 2.3m at the time) in which he alleged that Brown was attempting to send a mole to the EFF's breakfast for the elderly. The tweet exposed Brown's cellphone number without her consent and led to a period of harassment, intimidation as well as death and rape threats.