PA's Kunene once again ordered to apologise to EFF's Malema for calling him a ‘cockroach’
In a decision handed down on Tuesday morning, the Gauteng High Court has dismissed Kunene’s appeal of an Equality Court judgment that ruled that his words amounted to hate speech.
Patriotic Alliance deputy president Kenny Kunene. Photo: EWN
JOHANNESBURG - Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president, Kenny Kunene, has once again been ordered to apologise to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema for calling him a "cockroach".
In a decision handed down on Tuesday morning, the Gauteng High Court has dismissed Kunene’s appeal of an Equality Court judgment that ruled that his words amounted to hate speech.
On 17 November 2021, Kunene called Malema a "cockroach" four times during a televised interview on eNCA.
Following the 2021 local government elections, the African National Congress (ANC) and PA announced they would be working together in a number of hung municipalities.
In response, Malema said the ANC was working with a party of amabhanthinti, referring to the fact that the PA’s president, Gayton McKenzie and Kunene were ex-convicts.
In response to Malema’s comments, Kunene called the EFF leader a cockroach that he would deal with.
During the appeal, Kunene’s lawyers argued that this was political free speech.
However, Judge David Wilson disagreed, saying the word "cockroach" had harmful connotations to it and could be reasonably perceived to be an incitement to violence.