The high court in Johannesburg has found Patriotic Alliance
(PA) deputy president Kunene guilty of hate speech when he also referred to
Malema as “a cockroach” and “a little frog” in November 2021.
The court ordered Kunene to issue an unconditional public
apology to Malema which must include a retraction of the statement itself.
Judge Motsamai Makume said the statement uttered by Kunene
when he referred to Malema as “a cockroach”, “little frog” and criminal “are
hereby declared to constitute hate speech” as defined by the Equality Act.
The statement of apology and retraction must be made within
30 days from the date of the order. The order was made on Tuesday.
The court further interdicted and restrained Kunene from
publishing, propagating, advocating or communicating hate speech as defined by
the Equality Act.
Makume directed the registrar of the high court, within 30
days of the judgment, to prepare a dossier of papers filed in the matter
together with a copy of the judgment and submit the dossier to the director of
public prosecutions, who will have to determine whether the impugned statement
warrants institution of criminal proceedings for crimen injuria against Kunene.
The court ordered Kunene and the PA to pay Malema’s costs.
Malema took Kunene to court after an interview with eNCA in November 2021. He wanted Kunene to pay R1m for the slurs.
During a TV interview about coalition negotiations, Kunene
threatened to “deal with this little frog” in reference to Malema.
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