Patriotic Alliance deputy president Kenny Kunene has doubled down on his refusal to compensate or apologize to EFF leader Julius Malema for calling him a “cockroach,” despite a 2022 High Court ruling ordering him to do so.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, Kunene remained unrepentant: “There’s not a cent he’s going to get from me. I’ve never ever apologized. I can’t apologize to this young boy. He insults people all the time, then just runs to court.”
The Johannesburg High Court had ruled that Kunene’s 2021 remarks—where he labeled Malema a “cockroach,” “little frog,” and “criminal” during an eNCA interview—constituted hate speech under the Equality Act. Judge Motsamai Makume barred Kunene from repeating such statements.
However, Kunene has since secured leave to appeal the judgment, with the case set for a hearing on 23 July. “When a judge gives you leave to appeal, it means he believes another court might see it differently,” Kunene argued.
The feud doesn’t end there. Malema is also pursuing a defamation case against Kunene over claims made at a Cape Town rally before the May 2024 elections, where Kunene accused the EFF leader of working with controversial tobacco tycoon Adriano Mazzotti.
“Malema works for Mazzotti. He sells illegal cigarettes for Mazzotti. The Nigerians give him cocaine,” Kunene had alleged. That case remains pending.
Kunene questioned why his remarks were deemed hate speech while Malema’s “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” chant has repeatedly been ruled not hate speech by courts, including a recent Constitutional Court decision rejecting AfriForum’s appeal.
Malema has defended the chant as a “political struggle song” not meant to be taken literally. But Kunene remains unconvinced: “How is calling someone a ‘cockroach’ worse than singing about killing farmers?”
With the appeal hearing days away and the defamation case still unresolved, the war of words between Kunene and Malema shows no signs of cooling down. As Kunene put it: “Let the courts decide—but I won’t back down.”
The outcome could set a significant precedent for political speech and hate speech laws in South Africa.