Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, is appearing in the North Gauteng High Court today on two charges of having contravened the Riotous Assemblies Act.

The first charge was laid by the infamous racist lobby group Afriforum following Malema's call for his members to occupy any vacant land that they came across at the party's elective conference in December 2014. The second charge was for a similar transgression, this time in June 2016.

The news comes in the wake of the South African government's National Assembly having made history and voted in favor of a new Land Expropriation Bill that will allow for land expropriation without compensation. The introduction of the new bill is an attempt to address the illegal confiscation of land from black people that occurred during the Apartheid era.

There is considerable uncertainty with regards to how exactly this will be carried practically. However, a recently leaked document points to several ways in which the new bill may be enacted. Many have expressed concern citing that the new bill may further divide an already racially-tense country and possibly fuel civil unrest. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi warned that land expropriation must be "handled with care" lest it works against the country's social cohesion and future investment.

The EFF's second-in-command Floyd Shivambu, who is facing his own allegations of corruption in the recent VBS Bank scandal, referred to the charges against Malema as being "an Apartheid-era tactic."

He added that:

"We have degenerated back to what the apartheid regime used to do. The ANC is behaving exactly the same way as the Apartheid regime used to do. They absolved themselves from killing workers in Marikana, now it's employing racist apartheid-era tactics."

Malema is being represented by Advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi. Watch the live court proceedings below.

Riotous Assemblies Act High Court Hearingwww.youtube.com