‘We never called for literal killing’ — Malema appeals for farm killings to stop

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema attempted to distance himself from the chant that has followed him for years, at the party’s rally at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday, just days before the November 4 elections.

The chant, ‘Kill the boer, kill the farmer,’ was never meant in a literal sense. We never called for the literal killing of human beings. The killings in the farms of our own farmers must stop and must stop now. No white farmer must be killed. No black farmer must be killed. No woman must be killed. No one must be killed.

Malema’s comments come amid heightened international scrutiny, including recent claims by US President Donald Trump regarding the situation in South Africa. Malema rejected the narrative that white South Africans are facing genocide, labeling it as “absolute nonsense” that damages the country’s international reputation.

The “Kill the boer” chant has been tested repeatedly in court. A 2011 Equality Court ruling found Malema’s singing of the song amounted to hate speech. AfriForum later brought a fresh complaint, and in August 2022 the Equality Court ruled the chant was not hate speech, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.