US EditionNews24 | High Court Dismisses Kunene Hate Speech Appeal, Gives Him a Month to Apologise to Malema
JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA, AUG 5 – The court found Kunene's use of the term "cockroach" constituted hate speech and mandated a public apology, underscoring the term's genocidal connotations, the High Court ruled.
- In 2023, the High Court in Johannesburg confirmed the Equality Court’s decision that Kenny Kunene’s description of Julius Malema as a "cockroach" during a 2021 television interview constituted hate speech.
- This legal action followed Malema filing papers in January 2022 demanding Kunene retract and apologise for using the derogatory term amid claims it constituted hate speech.
- The court clarified that only the word 'cockroach' was hateful, linking its use to genocidal acts like the Rwandan genocide where it dehumanised and marked victims for slaughter.
- The court interdicted Kunene from further use of the term, ordered an unconditional public apology retracting it, and found no need to refer him for criminal prosecution.
- The ruling establishes a standard aimed at stopping crude and offensive conduct from entering the political sphere and calls on justice authorities to enhance rehabilitation efforts to discourage such behaviors.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Kenny Kunene ordered to say sorry for calling Julius Malema a cockroach – The Mail & Guardian
The high court in Johannesburg has ruled that suspended Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy leader Kenny Kunene committed hate speech by calling Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema a cockroach. On Tuesday, the court ordered that Kunene issue an unconditional written and oral public apology to Malema, adding that the apology must unequivocally retract the use of the word “cockroach” to describe the Red Berets leader. It said the apolo…
News24 | High Court dismisses Kunene hate speech appeal, gives him a month to apologise to Malema
A full Bench of the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has dismissed Patriotic Alliance suspended deputy president Kenny Kunene’s attempt to challenge the hate speech finding made against him for referring to EFF leader Julius Malema as a “cockroach”.
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