BREAKING NEWS: Malema drags PA’s Kunene to court over cockroach “slur”

By: Sello Theletsane

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has filed papers with the Equality Court in a bid to have Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president Kenny Kunene withdraw and apologise for “an insult” he made against Malema last year calling him a cockroach on live TV.

Malema has argued that the comment should be seen as hate speech as defined by the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.

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That act was, however, ruled to be a nullity after the Supreme Court of Appeal in December 2019 found it to be too broad and general in its wording and therefore against the Constitution’s protections on freedom of expression. It gave Parliament 24 months to reword it to ensure that speech that merely hurts someone’s feelings not be confused with hate speech.

Malema argues that the current version of the Act should nevertheless still be applied in the case of his unhappiness with Kunene. He contends that Kunene calling him a cockroach should be seen in the context of the Rwandan genocide when Hutus took to using the term on Tutsis.

He wants the court to declare that Kunene’s use of the word was hate speech and for him to be prosecuted by the state for crimen injuria.

Called for comment, Kunene said that he found the court papers unsurprising since Malema is known for his abusive tactics over the years to intimidate and silence his critics.

Also read: Patriotic Alliance deputy President Kenny Kunene keeps promise to oldest party member

“He has insulted everyone and called them every name under the sun. He’s like the primary school bully who now gets a little slap from the first pupil who stands up to him and then goes crying to the headmaster.

“Malema called PA president Gayton McKenzie and me all sorts of things. He once called Gayton a ‘pig in the mud’. He calls us criminals and bandits regularly, which is obviously ridiculous. We’re not in jail. We’re not doing crime. It’s hateful stuff from him but you don’t see us running to the courts.

“Now the poor man can’t take it that he’s been called a name he doesn’t like. This has nothing to do with Rwanda. South Africa is not Rwanda. There’s no genocide happening here. When I was a child, we didn’t have a fridge and my food was left on the kitchen counter overnight. In the morning there were cockroaches all over that plate. Cockroaches were just a constant irritation throughout my childhood. Malema is just that constant irritation. Let him bring it on.”

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