Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie has defiantly responded to Julius Malema’s defamation threat after calling the EFF commander-in-chief a “bank robber” and “stupid” during a fiery Facebook Live session. The Sport Minister doubled down, declaring the red berets “in ICU” as their war of words turns legal.
Malema fired back through EWN, distancing himself from criminality: “I’ve never robbed anything. I never went to jail for stealing.” The EFF leader warned, “If you become personal, I will sue you. I don’t play games,” referencing McKenzie’s remarks as image-damaging.
Unfazed, McKenzie tweeted: “This one thinks he has the sole mandate to insult people. Go to hell,” reigniting a feud that dates back to 2021 when Malema successfully sued McKenzie’s ally Kenny Kunene for calling him a “cockroach.”
Legal Déjà Vu
The High Court had ordered Kunene to apologize for his 2021 insect-themed insults, but the PA deputy chairman refused and is currently appealing. This new confrontation threatens to rehash old courtroom battles while exposing fresh fractures in opposition politics.
As Malema prepares legal papers, political observers watch closely – will this become another protracted defamation case, or merely another chapter in South Africa’s turbulent political theater? With neither man known for backing down, the collision course could test the limits of political free speech.