By Anees Teladia

With the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party leader, Julius Malema being cleared of accusations of “hate speech” by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), some argue that there is a dangerous precedent being set in the country. The complaints relate to five statements made by Malema and EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee.

Among these controversial statements was a comment Malema made at a rally in KwaZulu-Natal in which he accused Indians of mistreating black workers. Last year, he made similar comments, calling Indian people racist. There was also a complaint in relation to the singing of the song “Kiss the boer”, which was a modification of the song ‘Kill the Boer’ during a Human Rights Day address in 2018.  Gardee has also been investigated for his utterances on Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, who he called a “garden boy”.

The commission said the historical context in which the statements were made needed to be considered. In its conclusion, it said the complaints laid may be “quite offensive”, but they do not meet the legal threshold to qualify as hate speech.

“The impugned statements made by Mr Malema constituted robust political speech, which enjoys special protection as expression that lies at the heart of the right to freedom of expression. It is found that although offensive and even disturbing, the statements – viewed in their full context – do not amount to hate speech,” the SAHRC told a media briefing.

“These statements enjoy some constitutional value in dealing with matters such as land reform and interracial relations. The Commission nevertheless notes that although not passing the legal threshold for hate speech, public figures should refrain from making statements that erode social cohesion.”

However, the chairperson of South African Muslim Network (Samnet), Dr Faisal Suliman asserts that the message Malema is sending is “extremely dangerous”.

“I think what Mr Malema is doing is extremely dangerous, openly inciting hatred – which in our country as we know, turns to violence,” said Dr Suliman.

Dr Suliman commented on Malema being cautious enough to “skirt” the law and avoid legal implications through technicalities, but insists that what Malema is doing is nothing more than sensationalism and “stoking racial tension”.

“We as the community, as Muslims, Indians or any other ethnic group, need to say that nobody is perfect.”

“Of course, it’s the normal distribution curve of human beings – you are going to find extremes on both ends and find the vast majority in the middle,” said Dr Suliman commenting on the issue of racism and labour power-relations between employers and their employees.

“There will be some Muslims who are super great employers and some who are exploitative, but the vast majority will probably fit in the middle.”

Addressing the issue of race and ethnicity in labour relations and claims of exploitation, Dr Suliman argued that whilst there is some degree of truth to saying that Indians exploit workers, they do not do so on a strictly racial or ethnic basis.

“Indians exploit other Indians [too]. Businessmen always want to pay the least,” said Dr Suliman.

“Of course, some Indians are racists as well… but the way Mr Malema goes about it and addresses it …he’s a master at generating publicity. It’s gold for his political party.”

“His constituency is largely the disenchanted younger generations [who are] not going to interrogate the technicalities in language.”

He cautioned that the way Malema speaks and promotes ideas could have serious consequences, one of which could be the “end to the non-racialism project of South Africa and the ‘rainbow nation’.”

“The struggle [in South Africa] is more about class and socio-economics now. He’s turning it into a race-based narrative,” said Dr Suliman.

“This is not a country where we should be stoking racial division – we should be working toward removing the legacy of Apartheid.”

“We’ve seen pure fascist behaviour from the EFF. More hate gives him [Malema] another flag to carry around as the ‘saviour’ of black people.”

VOC