By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A full Bench of the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has dismissed Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy President Kenny Kunene’s attempt to challenge the hate speech finding made against him for referring to EFF leader Julius Malema as a “cockroach”.
On 17 November 2021, Kunene called Malema a “cockroach” four times during a televised interview on eNCA.
Kunene’s lawyers argued that this was political free speech.
However, Judge David Wilson disagreed, saying the word “cockroach” had harmful connotations to it and could be reasonably perceived to be an incitement to violence.
As a result of the dismissal, Kunene is now legally obligated to issue a public apology to Malema, by the end of September.
Kunene’s written and oral apology “must be published within one month of the date of this order”, the court ruled.
Furthermore, the court has placed a permanent restraint on Kunene, prohibiting him from repeating the offensive term or similar slurs against Malema in the future.
Kunene is currently on suspension after a visit, details of which remain unclear, to the home of Katiso “KT” Molefe, who was arrested in connection with a 2022 drive-by shooting that killed Oupa Sefoka, better known as DJ Sumbody. Sefoka and his bodyguard died after their vehicle was riddled with bullets in Woodmead, Johannesburg.
His past includes a criminal conviction. In 1997, he was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud after being found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme. At the time, he worked as an English teacher, but became involved in criminal activity while selling alcohol after hours.