APPEAL: President Cyril Ramaphosa
Image: Kopano Tlape/GCIS
AFRIKANER interest group AfriForum has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to condemn the chanting of “Kill the Boer”.
This call follows an incident on Human Rights Day, during which leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Julius Malema led the chanting of the controversial anti-apartheid struggle song at a commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960.
With the clip of the incident being shared by AfriForum’s allies in the US President Donald Trump administration, AfriForum claims that the song explicitly targets South Africa’s white minority and farmers.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to social media to express concern over the safety of Afrikaners facing threats of violence in South Africa. Rubio stated that Afrikaners who are threatened with violence would be welcomed in the US.
AfriForum argues that such chants promote violence and create division, undermining efforts to improve race relations and the safety of all citizens.
They also demands that farm murders be declared a national priority offence, as outlined in the Police Act.
The organisation points out that crimes like gender-based violence, gang violence, and rhino poaching have already been classified as priority crimes, but farm murders remain overlooked by the government.
Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, Ernst van Zyl, says: “For years, the government has given the farmers of this country a cold shoulder and turned a blind eye to the extreme violence that affects farmers in the form of brutal farm attacks and murders.
“The government has also never condemned chants like ‘Kill the Boer’ that target farmers. That needs to change, and the current crisis is the perfect opportunity.”
Their statement also references a remark made by President Ramaphosa during a 2018 visit to the United States, where he claimed: “There are no killings of farmers or white farmers in South Africa.”
AfriForum asserts that if the President is to show that South Africa rejects denialism around violent crimes, he must publicly retract these misleading comments made on the international stage.
Kill the Boer has been considered hate speech since 2003 by various courts and commissions, but a 2024 Supreme Court of Appeal verdict upheld that the song was used in protest and not an incitement to violence.