Cape Town – Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy chairperson, Kenny Kunene, reportedly refused to withdraw his statement calling Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema an “irritating cockroach”.
The businessman turned politician appeared at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday to account for the slur against Malema.
He took to his Twitter timeline to announce his appearance, sharing a picture of himself with PA members in court.
We are at the Johannesburg High Court with Patriots @OnsBaizaNie #Harebaize #Asibaizi pic.twitter.com/AnDdF9GUDY
— Kenny Kunene (@Kenny_T_Kunene) September 12, 2022
Kunene called Malema “a little frog” and “an irritating cockroach” during an interview with eNCA in November last year.
Malema, who didn’t take kindly to the comments, filed a lawsuit against the politician, demanding that he pays R1 million for the insults after Kunene failed to apologise, reported TimesLIVE.
The report said that Kunene refused to withdraw his statement, claiming that Malema had called other politicians worse things.
“What I said is not hate speech within the confines of the law. I don’t see how the court will arrive at the conclusion that saying someone is an irritating cockroach is hate speech. He is an irritating cockroach,” the report quoted Kunene as saying outside the court.
He alleged that Malema was a “small boy” that was “emotionally fragile with low self-esteem”, the report said.
“Perhaps Malema is too scared of me, he fears me. Even in court, he panics when he hears my name,” said Kunene.
During the court proceedings, Malema’s lawyer, advocate Kameel Premhid said the term cockroach must be viewed in the context of the Rwandan genocide, reported News24.
“The term cockroach enjoys the particular sting that it does because of its links to the Rwandan genocide. The word cockroach means something and that something is offensive,” the report quoted Premhid as saying.
Premhid called for the court to play its role to legally determine what meaning will be attached to these words, adding that the Constitutional Court had already said that the words were not neutral, the report said.
He also made reference to an incident where his client called another person a cockroach but withdrew the statement and apologised.
“It’s not because we had a … genocidal incident in South Africa as a result of the word cockroach being used,” he was quoted as saying.
The case was set to continue.
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Picture: Twitter/ @Kenny_K_Kunene
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
