Supreme Court of Appeal’s “Kill the Boer” judgement lets farmers down; emphasises the importance of taking safety into own hands

The Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgement that the “Kill the Boer” chant is not hate speech puts both farmers and Afrikaners in danger. Furthermore, the fact that Acting Judge of Appeal, Raylene Keightley, had not been recused from this case after it was revealed that she had expressed strong, biased opinions against AfriForum in the past, casts a shadow over this judgment.

AfriForum lodged the original complaint against the EFF and Malema in 2020 after EFF supporters chanted “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” outside the Magistrate’s Court in Senekal where the accused murderers of farm manager Brendin Horner were being tried. Recent evidence of just how dangerous this hateful chant can be came in 2023 when a couple from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal were severely assaulted on their farm while their attackers shouted, “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer”.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, farmers and Afrikaners deserve the same protections against hate speech as any other profession or cultural group. If the courts are not going to protect these groups from hate speech, they will have to take their safety into their own hands.

“AfriForum has already established more than 172 neighbourhood and farm watches nationwide. In light of this judgment, AfriForum will intensify its focus on investing a large and growing amount of its resources and time into improving and expanding our community safety networks through means such as training and equipment,” Kriel concludes.

AfriForum will convene with its legal team to discuss the possibility of a Constitutional Court challenge.