Kunene Ordered to Apologise After Calling Malema a ‘Cockroach’ in Shocking Outburst

IT never rains but it pours for Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Kenny Kunene

The Full Bench of the High Court in Joburg has slapped him with costs as it dismissed his appeal against the Equality Court judgment on Tuesday, 5 August.

Kunene and the PA wanted the court to overturn the ruling that calling EFF leader Julius Malema a “cockroach” was hate speech.

“The appeal is dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel, to be paid by the first and second appellants jointly and severally, the one paying the other to be absolved,” said Judge Stuart Wilson.

Kunene referred to Malema as a cockroach four times in a TV interview on eNCA following the outcome of 2021 local government elections. He also called him a “frog”.

His anger was sparked by Malema’s criticism of the ANC’s decision to go with the PA to form municipal coalitions.

He called the PA “pati yama bantiti” (a party of criminals).

Kunene, who is PA’s deputy president and PA president Gayton McKenzie are ex-convicts.

“The problem with this sort of expression is that it degrades the social arena in which it takes place. It makes us all less human, less tolerant of each other, and more tolerant of hate. It encourages us to accept dehumanisation as a normal part of political or social life, and it is a necessary precondition for the infliction of widespread violence against the groups it targets,” said Wilson.

The judge said whatever Kunene intended to achieve, the use of the word cockroach is internationally recognised as hateful of those to whom it is directed.

He said it also places those it’s directed at in harm’s way.

“The political use of the term cockroach is always and everywhere a call to treat those to whom the term is directed as objects of hate,” said Wilson.

He pointed out that the Rwandan genocide is the dominant context in which a reasonable observer would have understood Kunene’s use of the term.

The Hutus called Tutsi cockroaches and went on to annihilate them.

Kunene is currently on suspension and has recently resigned as Joburg MMC for Transport after police found him at murder accused Katiso “KT” Molefe’s Sandton house.

Malema had objected to being called a cockroach and a frog and complained to the Equality Court which ruled in his favour in January 2023.

The court declared that Kunene’s use of the words “cockroach”, “little frog” and “criminal” amounted to hate speech within the meaning of Section 10 of the Equality Act.

However, Judge Wilson ordered that the Equality Court’s order is varied and be replaced with the following order: “It is declared that the first respondent’s use of the word ‘cockroach’ to describe the complainant in the ENCA television interview of 17 November 2021 amounted to hate speech in contravention of Section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000.”

Kunene was further interdicted and restrained from describing Malema as a cockroach in future.

He was again ordered to issue an unconditional written and oral public apology to Malema.

“The apology must unequivocally retract the use of the word ‘cockroach’ to describe the complainant. The first respondent’s written and oral apology must be published within one month of the date of this order,” said Judge Wilson.