It is high time to take action against Malema for hate speech

31 July 2023

It is time to take action against the EFF leader Julius Malema for his inflammatory statements, and the FF Plus once again lodged a complaint about it with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) today.

Video footage that the FF Plus made available to the HRC clearly shows Malema once again singing the “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” song at the weekend and also saying “Shoot to kill”.

Mr Malema's incitement to violence against farmers, regardless of their race, and white people in general is well-documented, and the FF Plus and others have lodged several complaints against him over the years.

The HRC found as far back as 2000, after a complaint lodged by the FF Plus, that the song “Kill the Boer” amounts to hate speech, but thus far, the EFF leader's statements have gone unpunished.

His re-iteration of it in the FNB Stadium yesterday with the celebration of the EFF's tenth anniversary simply highlights his contempt for the law and the HRC.

It raises the question of why the HRC is hesitant to take action against Mr Malema seeing as this body has in the past taken very stringent action against persons who were reportedly guilty of hate speech.

The FF Plus is absolutely convinced that inflammatory statements and songs do indeed incite people to violence and murder. There is also no doubt that the "boer" referred to in the song is aimed at white people.

In addition, a 2003 police report found that inflammatory statements by politicians incite people to violence, and that it is one of the main causes of farm attacks and murders.

In the current political climate and with crime and murder rates being as high as they are, such statements can no longer be justified or permitted under the guise of freedom of speech.

South Africa's Constitution clearly stipulates that incitement to violence is not protected under the right to freedom of expression. It is, furthermore, also a violation of the Riotous Assemblies Act.

The FF Plus pointed out last year that a wave of farm attacks and murders followed the ruling by the Equality Court (on 25 August) that singing the song "Kill the Boer" does not constitute hate speech.

Malema is not above the law, and his statements are to the detriment of everyone in the country seeing as they incite racialism.

The FF Plus will continue to demand that action must be taken until Malema is silenced in this regard.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 31 July 2023