The Patriotic Alliance’s (PA) suspended Deputy President Kenny Kunene has failed to appeal the Equality Court’s 2023 finding that his labelling of EFF leader Julius Malema as a “cockroach” four times in a television interview in the context of a political party debate is hate speech.
The High Court in Johannesburg upheld (with costs) the Equality Court’s core finding that the repeated use of the word “cockroach” to describe Malema amounted to hate speech.
The central question in Kunene’s appeal is whether one political leader who calls another political leader a “cockroach” commits an act of hate speech.
Kunene argued in the appeal that his utterances do not fall within the ambit of section 10 of the Equality Act because they were personal attacks on Malema, rather than on any group of which Malema is a member.
The High Court, however, found, among other things, that the use of the word “cockroach” would reasonably have been understood as evincing a clear intent to harm and promoted hatred of Malema and that the use of the word conveys that Malema is not human.
Kunene was ordered to apologise within one month of this order and he is interdicted from using the said word in future.
[ICYMI] Sports, Arts & Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie says he believes suspended PA Deputy President Kenny Kunene is innocent, and will await the outcome of ongoing investigations. pic.twitter.com/5q8qv5hxxt
— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 5, 2025
The Equality Court in 2023 found that Kunene’s labelling of Julius Malema as a “cockroach” is hate speech.
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