Julius Malema: A tongue slip or hate speech?

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema speaks in Cape Town, South Africa. [Reuters]

South African politician Julius Malema is in the spotlight again.

This time, he is accused of propagating hate speech, for publicly singing a local struggle song Dubul' ibhunu loosely translated to “Kill the Boer, Kill the farmer.”

Malema appeared before the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday to answer to the charges, brought forth by Afriforum- a civil society group in South Africa.

Afriforum claimed that the song Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) sang should be declared as hate speech and that the party should apologise or be fined R500,000 (Sh3.8 million).

The EFF party leader, taking to the stand on Wednesday, denied singing the song.

“You have the wrong man. Even in the videos they have presented, not a single video shows me singing ‘Kill the Boer.” He instead said that the song meant “kiss the farmer and not kill.”

Malema accused Afriforum of creating panic among white people and making the case about race when the country has a crime and murder issue.

“There are no white people or farmers being murdered. South Africa has become a crime scene. Leave race out of it. There is just a problem of murder and it is increasing,” he told court.

When asked why he called white people visitors, the opposition leader had this to say: “You arrived here as settlers in 1652…It's a historical fact... You are using South Africa as a refreshment station, and because we have ubuntu, we welcomed you.”

EFF Treasury General Omphile Maotwe told Newzroom Afrika on Thursday that they weren’t worried “because there was no case there.”

No stranger to controversy, the EFF leader was also in 2010 convicted of hate speech and again in September 2011, after singing the same song, "Dubul' ibhunu (Kill the Boer"), a decision that led to his expulsion from the African National Congress (ANC).

In June 2018, Malema gained additional notoriety when he was asked whether he was responsible for organising gangs to kill white farmers, and responded: "Maybe, maybe not."

He is the leader of South Africa’s second-largest opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).