It’s hate speech, SAHRC tells Malema and the EFF

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has threatened to drag the EFF and its leader Julius Malema to court should they fail to retract statements made during the party’s Western Cape People’s Assembly last month.

The commission’s acting spokesperson, Wisani Baloyi, said they received complaints relating to utterances made by party leader Julius Malema and posters that were held by members during the gathering on October 16.

Complaints were lodged in relation to specific statements apparently made by Malema in reference to the Brackenfell High School and footage of a white person beating up one of their members.  

“Mr Malema questioned why that (white) person had not been located and taken to ‘an isolated space and attend to the guy properly’, followed by an exhortation to the members that ‘You must never be scared to kill, a revolution demands that at some point there must be killing, because the killing is part of a revolutionary act,” Baloyi said.

Other statements flagged by the commission include parts where Malema mentions that the party was at war with “white supremacists and that anything that stands in the way of a revolution must be eliminated”.

Complaints were also forwarded about posters stating that “Honeymoon is over for white people in South Africa” and “A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate".

Baloyi said some of the posters constituted incitement of violence and hate speech. He said Malema and the party had been served with a notice to either apologise or face being taken to the Equality Court. The party has been given 10 days to retract their statements.

EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the party would issue a detailed response to the commission’s statement later on Wednesday.

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za