The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has lodged a complaint of hate speech against the Free State chairperson of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), Thebe Meeko, at the Equality Court in Cape Town.

The DA Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Wilmot James, alleges that Meeko used hate speech against Free State University Rector, Jonathan Jansen. James alleges that Meeko reportedly said that Jansen “should be shot because he is a racist.”

“There is a pattern of this kind of comments and therefore we need to stand up and say enough is enough! The relief we seek is a public apology - a retraction of the statement. We would like to have some confirmation from the senior ANC leadership that this kind of thing will never happen again,” says James. 

The ANCYL spokesperson, Floyd Shivambu, meanwhile says that the DA has misunderstood Meeko's statement.

“The ANCYL in Free State has released a statement in terms of clarifying the whole issue. That racism is an abhorrable practice in South Africa - and must be condemned in whatever way possible. And they likened racism to criminals - that in the same way we approach criminals in South Africa, we must approach racism. We have nothing to apologise for,” says Shivambu.

The ANCYL also called for Jansen to be expelled. Jansen has come under fire recently for dropping charges against four white students accused of making a racially insensitive video.  -Additional reporting by Sapa