Malema hit with hate speech guilt — court condemns call to ‘kill racists’

Malema

Cape Town – The Western Cape Equality Court has found EFF leader Julius Malema guilty of hate speech for a 2022 rally in Cape Town, where he urged supporters to “never be scared to kill” and described killing “racists” as part of revolutionary action.

The remarks came after a violent incident between EFF members and parents in Brackenfell.

Presiding Judge Mark Sher ruled that Malema’s statements, made as a prominent political leader, had the potential to incite widespread racial violence.

“One only needs to recall what Jews, Muslims and Tutsis were accused of doing, so that hatred and genocide could be fomented against them,” he said.

“To call someone a racist in South Africa is, given our racially oppressive past, inevitably to invoke detestation, enmity, ill-will and malevolence against such a person.

“While calling out someone who behaves as a racist may be acceptable, calling for them to be killed is not. And calling for someone to be killed because they are a racist who has acted violently, is an act of vigilantism and an incitement of the most extreme form of harm possible.”

The DA hailed the ruling as a victory for the rule of law and South Africa’s non-racial values, warning of the local and international harm caused by Malema’s rhetoric.

The Inclusive Society Institute also condemned the speech, calling on all political leaders to avoid inflammatory language that threatens social cohesion and democracy.

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