Red flag: DA plans to take EFF to UN Human Rights Council over ‘Kill the Boer’ rally chant

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said the opposition party intents to file charges against Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The announcement follows Malema’s chanting of the controversial “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” during the EFF’s 10th anniversary celebrations at the FNB Stadium, in Soweto, on Saturday.

DA leader Steenhuisen accuses Malema of inciting civil war

Steenhuisen added that the DA was also planning on approaching Parliament’s ethics committee. This while seeking legal advice on what would be the best option: Approaching the public protector or heading to court.  

Steenhuisen also criticised the African National Congress (ANC) for its failure to reprimand its “protégé” Malema.

ALSO READ: DA slams ‘bloodthirsty’ Malema for singing ‘Kill the Boer’

Brief history of ‘Kill the Boer’

The line chanted by anti-apartheid activist and former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Peter Mokaba in the 1990s

The lyrics were declared hate speech in 2003 by the South African Human Rights Commission. The Equality Court later found it did not constitute hate speech. AfriForum appealed and the matter is set to be heard before the Supreme Court of Appeal later this year.

When he took to the stand in 2022 during AfriForum’s civil case against him, his party and EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi for singing “Kill the Boer” on various occasions, Malema told the court the chant was “shoot to kill, kiss the Boer, kiss the farmer”. 

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AfriForum on Malema’s ‘Kill the Boer’ chant: ‘He is breaking the law’

AfriForum lawyer Willie Spies also weighed in on Saturday’s incident, which the civil rights organisation, labelled “illegal”.

“He is breaking the law. But he believes he can. He won the first round,” Spies was quoted as saying by Sunday World.

Spies based the organisation’s claim that it was “illegal” for Malema to sing the song during the pending court action.

Equality Court Judge Edwin Molahlehi declared the lyrics of the Dubul’ ibhunu song not harmful or hate speech, arguing that the song articulated the failure of the current government to address issues of economic empowerment and land division.

NOW READ: EFF emerges victorious in AfriForum’s ‘Shoot the Boer’ case