SAHRC: Julius Malema found not guilty on five counts of hate speech

Julius Malema has escaped any further action over five complaints received by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), regarding his alleged use of hate speech. The panel held a press conference on Wednesday morning, to confirm that his remarks “were offensive”, but not tantamount to committing a crime.

Julius Malema survives hate speech complaints

It marks the second victory in two weeks for the political firebrand, who also saw the F.W de Klerk Foundation launch a complaint against him. They wanted him brought to book for comments he made about postponing a “white genocide” – the commission, however, found in favour of Juju.

The other complaints under review include Malema’s calls for EFF followers to illegally occupy land and general “anti-white” sentiment. He has previously called for South Africans to “slit the throat of whiteness”, and frequently said shocking things about Indian and Afrikaner citizens.

Even though the finding lodged against Mr Malema do not amount to hate speech, but his utterances do not help in the quest to create social cohesion, SAHRC Chair, Bongani Majola.

— SAHRCommission (@SAHRCommission) March 27, 2019

Why the SAHRC have found Julius Malema “not guilty”

Bongani Majola is the chairperson of the SAHRC. He explained that hate speech isn’t just a matter of saying something that upsets people. Majola states the “word of law” means there’d be no possible prosecution for Juju:

“The issue of discrimination on the basis of race is divisive and emotive. In dealing with complaints, the commission is only guided by the Constitution and the law. We considered each complaint lodged against Mr Malema in respect of the law.”

Bongani Majola

What is hate speech in South Africa?

If you are directly calling for the harm of a certain group of people, based on ethnicity, race, gender or religion, you have gone over the line of free speech and strayed into the territory of “hatred”.

Using extremely derogatory terms (based on the demographics mentioned) to refer to an individual is also classed as hate speech. However, Julius Malema has managed to dodge any further legal action, despite his propensity to use deliberately-inflammatory language.