Kenny Kunene is ordered to apologize after court rules his repeated use of “cockroach” to describe Julius Malema constitutes hate speech. Image: Sharon Seretlo/Independent Newspapers.
(The Post News)– Kenny Kunene, the suspended deputy president of the Patriotic Alliance party, has been ordered to apologize to EFF leader Julius Malema after calling him a “cockroach” multiple times in a televised interview.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed Kenny Kunene’s appeal against a previous Equality Court ruling. That ruling found that his remarks calling Julius Malema a “cockroach,” “little frog,” and “criminal” constituted hate speech under the Equality Act.
Kunene made the remarks during an interview with eNCA. Malema then took the matter to the Equality Court. The Equality Court had previously ordered Kunene to issue an apology for his remarks about Malema and prohibited him from repeating such language in the future.
During the appeal, Kunene’s legal team argued that his comments were aimed at Malema personally, not at any group to which he belongs. They further argued that even if Kunene’s remarks could be seen as attacks based on Malema’s political affiliation, political criticism does not qualify as hate speech under the Equality Act, as political alignment is not one of the protected grounds it covers.
Judge Stuart Wilson, delivering the judgment on behalf of the full bench, opened the appeal ruling by stating that the key issue was whether a political leader referring to a rival as a “cockroach” during a televised discussion on local election results amounts to hate speech.
Judge Wilson said, “We conclude that he does. This is because that conduct falls squarely within the textual definition of ‘hate speech’ outlined in section 10 of the Equality Act.” He added that political speech in South Africa must not be allowed to descend into mutual dehumanization.
Judge Wilson warned that the consequences of such dehumanization are evident throughout history. He stated, “They reveal themselves in the pogroms and genocides that the use of the word ‘cockroach’ evokes. The Constitution and the Equality Act require us to enforce the modest limits on political discourse that are necessary to prevent it from doing so.”
The court ruled that the Equality Court’s order must be adjusted. It removed the declaration that calling someone a “criminal” and “little frog” constitutes hate speech. Only the repeated use of “cockroach” was ruled as hate speech.
Judge Wilson expressed that Kunene should be given a chance to align his speech with lawful boundaries and clearly accept that certain statements are off-limits because they threaten the political system in which he plays a significant role.
The court barred Kunene from referring to Malema as a “cockroach” going forward. He must apologize in writing and publicly within the next month. The term “cockroach” has historically been used in contexts of extreme dehumanization, notably in the Rwandan genocide, which influenced the court’s view on the severity of the insult in South African political discourse.
As of this report, Kunene has not issued a public response to the court ruling.
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