EFF leader, Julius Malema has testified in the Afriforum hate speech case.
The Equality Court in Johannesburg has been the stage for Afriforum’s hate speech civil case against EFF. Afriforum took EFF to court for singing the song “Kill The Boer” also called “Dubul’ ibhunu”. Afriforum has called on the court to find EFF leader, Julius Malema and his party in contempt for singing the song at their rallies and also at protests.
According to them, it constitutes “hate speech” in terms of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act. Scheduled to appear in court, Malema had previously come under fire for his line of questioning during the Judicial Service Commissions (JSC) interviews of the four candidates vying to be the new Chief Justice of South Africa.
However, Malema, during his appearance at the Equality Court on Wednesday, refused to respond to some questions during his testimony. He stated that he believes Afriforum is using the case to halt his party’s pursuit for economic emancipation.
According to him, the case has nothing to do with the “Kill The Boer” song. He stated that “Struggle songs should never be taken literally as they always have a more deeper meaning,”
“In 1994, we ushered in political freedom, but economic Apartheid still prevails. Therefore, there is a need to continue the struggle for economic emancipation. What is on trial before this court and what the applicant (AfriForum) wants is for the struggle for emancipation to be found to be an act of hate. Which has nothing to do with the song ‘Kill the Boer’ being deemed as hate speech,” – Malema
