‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ is hate speech as it targets one group and calls for them to be killed

Advocate Mark Oppenheimer said that the chant ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ is a textbook example of hate speech.

He shared his views about the controversial chant during a discussion with Heinz Winckler on ‘In Heinzsight Boldcast’.

Oppenheimer is one of South Africa’s most respected legal experts and has appeared in the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.

He is also the president of the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and an executive director of the Free Speech Union of South Africa.

He is, therefore, well positioned to comment on what is protected speech and what constitutes illegal hate speech.

Section 16 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa enshrines the freedom of expression under Chapter 2, the Bill of Rights.

It guarantees everyone the right to freedom of expression, encompassing media freedom and the freedom to receive or impart information.

However, Oppenheimer highlighted three limitations on freedom of expression under South Africa’s Constitution.

These are propaganda for war, the incitement of imminent violence, and hate speech, which advocates hatred on the grounds of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion.

South Africans also cannot hide behind freedom of speech when what they say constitutes an incitement to cause harm.

Oppenheimer argued that the most economical way of demonstrating hate speech is to target a group and call for them to be killed.

“I am going to pick a group, Afrikaners, I’m going to say that they deserve death, and I’m going to call on people to kill them,” he said.

He said that it is an obvious example of hate speech, and that is where the ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ chant crosses the line.

“When you have someone like EFF leader Julius Malema calling on people to be killed, well, now it’s not just information,” he said.

“It’s encouraging people to go and perform real-world violence, and therefore, you can put a limit on it.”

He cited the situation where Malema chanted ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ in a stadium full of people, adding that people must ‘shoot to kill’.

“When I cross-examined him and asked him who he was referring to when he said ‘farmer, he said that he was thinking about a ‘white person’,” Oppenheimer said.

He added that when Malema was given the opportunity to pledge that he would never call for the slaughter of white people, he refused.

Oppenheimer also differs from the court rulings, which said that the chant was merely a protest song.

He criticises the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court for refusing to hear or overturn the ruling.

He said it was evidence of a political double standard where high-profile politicians escape hate speech liability while ordinary citizens face legal consequences.