Johannesburg – The Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum have slammed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema for singing the “Kill the Boer” song during his keynote address at Soccer City Stadium this weekend.
The EFF celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Saturday, with the two parties saying the song promoted hate speech.
AfriForum said controversial chants were made during Malema’s closing speech at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg over the weekend.
This comes after AfriForum had previously filed a hate speech case against the EFF, which was dismissed by the Equality Court last year.
AfriForum’s chief executive for strategy, Ernst Roets, said they are still appealing this ruling.
“The matter has been heard in the high court, and there was a ruling on this last year, and the matter is going on appeal, so it will be going to the SCA in September.
“That is the matter of whether the chanting of the song ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ is hate speech. Given the fact that the matter is still pending and in the process of going to court, it does not give Malema the right to chant this song,” he said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party was opposed to the singing of the song.
“The DA unreservedly condemns the chanting of ‘Shoot to Kill’ and ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ by Julius Malema during the EFF anniversary rally. We view this act as completely unacceptable and firmly believe that incitement to violence has no place in our society,” Steenhuisen said on Sunday.
He said the DA would be announcing urgent steps to hold Malema accountable for his dangerous remarks.
“Political leaders have a greater responsibility to foster nation-building and social cohesion. Malema’s continued chant of this racially inflammatory phrase sets a dangerous precedent that undermines our country’s path towards reconciliation.
“Malema’s utterances yesterday confirm the urgency of Steenhuisen’s warning. The EFF has already formed Doomsday Coalitions with its destructive partners in the ANC and PA in Gauteng. Its plan is to replicate this at the national level next year in order to catapult Malema into the Union Buildings,” Steenhuisen said.
The Star