Julius Malema doubles down on Kill the Boer

Julius Malema continues to chant Kill the Boer at public gatherings despite growing opposition to the struggle song.

The Kill the Boer chant is a liberation-era struggle song, but its call for violence made it a politically charged issue in South Africa.

The legal status of the chant has shifted over the years, culminating in a ruling by South Africa’s highest court that it was not hate speech.

The Constitutional Court ruled that a reasonably well-informed person would understand the song was a form of political expression.

It ruled that the Kill the Boer song was not a literal incitement to physically harm white farmers or Afrikaners.

Despite the ruling, many critics, including United States President Donald Trump, said it was inappropriate in a country which grappled with farm attacks and murders.

US Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, also said that he believes Kill the Boer constitutes hate speech.

“I’m sorry, I don’t care what your courts say, it’s hate speech,” he said in March 2026, at the Biznews Conference in Hermanus, Western Cape.

The United States have asked the South African government to denounce the Kill the Boer’ chant. However, to date, this has not happened.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) previously wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa about the issue, saying such rhetoric deepens racial mistrust.

Former DA leader John Steenhuisen said it contributed to a climate of fear, particularly in rural communities affected by farm attacks and violent crime.

The Freedom Front Plus has also opposed the slogan, arguing that it targets a specific racial minority and amounts to incitement.

Despite the opposition to the song, Malema and the EFF have doubled down, saying it formed part of their local government election campaign.

He sang Kill the Boer at the end of his speech at the memorial service for the late EFF member Primrose Bogatsu in Rustenburg last week.

This illustrated that the controversial song remains part of Malema’s political rhetoric.