In a case brought by Brackenfell man Dante van Wyk and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) the Western Cape Equality Court yesterday found Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema guilty of hate speech.
In his ruling judge Mark Sher held that Malema’s speech “constituted an exhortation to kill white males who had participated in the incident of 9 November 2020 at Brackenfell High School and to kill, or respond violently to, any other persons who engaged in racist behaviour towards members of the EFF in future.”
The case stems from the scuffle outside Brackenfell High during an EFF protest over a private matric party falsely believed to exclude black learners. The SAHRC and education department cleared the school of racism.
In a later speech in 2022, referring to the incident, Julius Malema made remarks that purported to encourage violence, leading to online death threats against Dante van Wyk and his family.
“The most atrocious violent threats were made, and they had to withdraw from society and go into hiding in another province,” Van Wyk’s attorney Millie Westley told TygerBurger, “something that prevented him from pursuing employment. His family experienced horrific trauma and at the age of only 19 his life was put on hold.”
Literal incitement
Van Wyk and the SAHRC, which had previously found Malema’s words to constitute hate speech and incitement to violence, filed a hate speech case seeking a retraction, R1 million in damages and possible criminal prosecution. A linguistics expert testified Malema’s words were literal incitement, not political metaphor. His lawyer, though, denied racial hatred.
Representing Malema and the EFF, advocate Mfesane Ka-Siboto argued that Malema does not hate white people, only racism, as he had said at a conference in Durban in February. However, a forensic linguistics expert for the applicants in the case testified to what constitutes hate speech to those it was uttered to.
“In other words how does the reasonable man to whom the words are spoken hear and interpret the words?” says Westley. “In her testimony the expert said the words were not political nuances, but literal speech.”
The court will now set a new date to consider the applicants’ quest for damages, the referral of the case to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible criminal prosecution and for Malema to retract his words pertaining to hate speech on all social-media platforms.
International repercussions
The DA welcomed the court ruling finding Malema guilty of hate speech.
In a statement John Steenhuisen said the DA commended the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for pursuing the matter.
“This is a victory for the rule of law, for the Constitution and for all South Africans who cherish the values of a free, fair and non-racial society. For too long the world has just watched as Julius Malema has incited violence, hatred and division, attempting to unstitch the very fabric of South African society.”
He said his hate speech was most recently shown at the White House during a meeting with President Donald Trump, President Cyril Ramaphosa and a South African delegation.
“This type of divisive language is not just damaging on a local level, it has international repercussions as well. South Africa’s reputation on the global stage is at risk when such hatred is condoned or ignored. For this reason the DA welcomes today’s ruling as a victory against Malema’s campaign to incite racial division and hatred in our society.
“The DA will be exploring further action that can be taken to enforce serious consequences against the hate speech of Julius Malema on the back of this groundbreaking judgment. Julius Malema has repeatedly crossed that line.” Steenhuisen said the incitement of mass murder by a political leader is not normal, not to mention permissible.
Van Wyk told TygerBurger he was relieved the case had finally come to an end.
“It feels like a dark cloud has lifted from my life, but South Africa is no longer for me. I still believe my life is in danger.
