Labour union Solidarity has said it is confident that its complaint against members of Black First Land First (BLF) for alleged hate speech following the Hoërskool Driehoek disaster will be heard soon. The Mercury reports the matter is due to come before the Equality Court sitting in Johannesburg, where Solidarity had lodged a complaint that the words uttered by BLF members Lindsay Maasdorp and Zwelakhe Dubasi constituted hate speech. Solidarity’s Anton van der Bijl confirmed that the matter was ready to go ahead after it had received BLF president Andile Mngxitama’s opposing papers. The complaint of hate speech follows posts in which Maasdorp said he was unmoved by the death of the pupils as it would mean the elimination of three ‘future problems’ from the world. These were made at the time when four scholars died after a concrete slab at the school in Vanderbijlpark collapsed. Apart from saying that these utterances constitute a serious affront to human dignity and the right to equality, Solidarity also wants BLF to pay damages in the amount of R150 000 to the parents of the dead pupils for their emotional suffering. Mngxitama – in his lengthy answering affidavit – outlined the past history of discrimination by whites against blacks in the country. He also gave examples of ‘hate speech’ committed in the past by whites such as AfriForum’s Kallie Kriel, Helen Zille, apartheid-era Police Minister Adrian Vlok and former President FW de Klerk. Mngxitama said that BLF did not celebrate the death of the Hoërskool Driehoek pupils. He said nothing stated in the posts violated the Constitution or promoted hatred. Mngxitama said the case was simply aimed at humiliating BLF and its members who were claimed to have committed hate speech.