- EFF Rejects Court Ruling on Malema’s Remarks: The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) strongly opposed the court’s decision that upheld claims of hate speech and incitement to violence by their leader, Julius Malema, condemning it as a distortion of political speech and history.
- Court’s Decision on Malema’s Speech: The court ruled that Malema’s remarks at a 2022 event, including ‘You must never be scared to kill,’ reasonably indicated an intention to incite harm, asserting that free speech has limits when it promotes hatred or violence.
- EFF’s Interpretation of Malema’s Comments: The EFF argues that Malema’s words were metaphorical, politically and historically motivated critiques of racism, not literal calls to violence, and that the court misunderstood the context.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has rejected the Equality Court’s ruling that upheld the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) claims that certain remarks made by its President and Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema amounted to hate speech and incitement to violence.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, 27 August 2025, the EFF described the judgment as a “grave distortion of history, philosophy, and the nature of political speech in a democratic society.”
The court’s ruling stemmed from Malema’s controversial remarks at the EFF’s Western Cape 3rd Provincial People’s Assembly in October 2022, where his statements — including “You must never be scared to kill” — were found to reasonably demonstrate an intention to incite harm. The court argued that while freedom of expression is a constitutional right, it is not absolute and does not extend to speech that advocates hatred or incites violence.
The EFF, however, maintains that the court misinterpreted Malema’s words by stripping them of their revolutionary, historical, and political context. The party argued that Malema’s comments were metaphorical, rooted in a critique of racism and colonial dispossession, not literal instructions to commit violence.
“The language of revolution cannot be sanitised to comfort those who continue to benefit from racial inequality,” the statement read. The EFF further accused the ruling of seeking to delegitimise revolutionary discourse and political speech in South Africa.
The party also linked Malema’s remarks to the 2020 Brackenfell High School incident, where white students’ parents allegedly attacked black protesters. According to the EFF, the court ignored the reality that racism itself is violence, and South Africa’s history of systemic oppression required resistance.
The EFF confirmed that its legal team has been instructed to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeals. “We do so not only in defence of our Commander-in-Chief but in defence of political freedom, historical truth, and the right of oppressed people to speak boldly against their oppression,” the statement concluded.
