Kenny Kunene Found Guilty of Hate Speech and Ordered to Apologise After Calling Julius Malema a Cockroach

Kenny Kunene Found Guilty of Hate Speech and Ordered to Apologise After Calling Julius Malema a Cockroach

  • Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president Kenny Kunene’s controversial “cockroach” remarks have come back to haunt him
  • The businessman and politician was ordered by the High Court to apologise to Economic Freedom Fighter leader Julius Malema
  • The court ruling left South African citizens divided, with many taking to social media to ridicule and poke fun at the matter

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JOHANNESBURG - Businessman and politician Kenny Kunene will have to face the consequences of calling Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema a cockroach.

Julius Malema_Kenny Kunene
PA deputy Kenny Kunene was found guilty of hate speech and ordered to apologise for calling EFF leader Julius Malema a cockroach. Image: Rodger Bosch & @_DJCappuccino
Source: UGC

The High Court in Johannesburg found the Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy guilty of hate speech for remarks he made last November. At the time, Kunene also labelled Malema “a little frog”.

Judge Motsamai Makume said the remarks made by the PA deputy were made to constitute hate speech as defined by the Equality Act. Kunene will have to issue an apology and retract his statements within 30 days, TimesLIVE reported.

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Kenny Kunene refuses to accept hate speech verdict for calling Julius Malema a cockroach, SA in stitches

The court also prohibited the politician from publishing, propagating, advocating or communicating hate speech as defined by the Equality Act. The ruling has since gained mixed reactions on social media.

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Mzansi reacts as Kenny Kunene ordered to apologise to Julius Malema

@HMgxaji said:

"Kenny must just extract that truth."

@jo97243785 posted:

"I thought it was a compliment."

Julius Malema attempted to sue Kenny Kunene for R1m following cockroach remarks

Previously, Malema demanded compensation of R1 million from Kunene. In court papers, Malema argued that the comments meant the PA deputy thought he deserved subhuman treatment.

According to IOL, at the time Kunene spoke outside court and said he refused to apologise as he believed the remarks were not hate speech. He added that he was confident that he would win the case and if he didn’t, said that he would appeal the matter.

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Mzansi says EFF's national shutdown is too far away, calls for urgent intevention in country’s challenges

Kenny Kunene pokes fun at former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse for losing mayoral position

Briefly News also reported that Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy leader Kenny Kunene has poked fun at former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse, who is fighting for the mayoral position.

His comments came after PA leader and Central Karoo district mayor Gayton McKenzie headed to social media to comment on the Joburg drama.

McKenzie posted a picture of Phalatse and asked his deputy not to allow him to “embarrass” himself in the same way as the former Joburg mayor.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Bianca Lalbahadur avatar

Bianca Lalbahadur Bianca Lalbahadur is a current affairs journalist at Briefly News. With a knack for writing hard-hitting content, she is dedicated to being the eyes and ears of South Africans. As a young and vibrant journalist, Bianca is passionate about providing quality and factual stories that impact citizens. She graduated from the Independent Institute of Education in 2017 and has worked at several award-winning Caxton associated community newspapers.