The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has welcomed a ruling by the Johannesburg High Court, which states that comments made by businessman and ex-politician, Kenny Kunene, in relation to party leader Julius Malema, were hateful and dehumanising.
This is in relation to an interview televised on the 18th of November 2021, where Kunene referred to Malema as a “frog” and a “cockroach” that he would supposedly deal with.
In a statement, the EFF says, “These comments were not only hateful, but were not considerate of the historical impact of derogatory terms used to refer to human beings, in inciting violence and genocide. Genocides and hate crimes against fellow human beings begin at the point of dehumanisation.”
In its ruling, the court found that there was no justification for the comments, and that Kunene sought to incite hate and harm towards Malema.
The party further stated that, “The EFF hopes that this judgement will serve the rehabilitating purpose that the prison system has clearly failed to achieve with Kunene as an individual. The comments made by Kunene clearly reveal the inadequacies of our Correctional Services system in rehabilitating individuals who are prone to criminality.”
The party elaborates below:
EFF Welcomes The Judgement By The Johannesburg High Court, Which Found That Kenny Kunene Committed Hate Speech By Referring To CIC @Julius_S_Malema As A “Cockroach” pic.twitter.com/uaywlcobde
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 31, 2023
