AfriForum has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to publicly condemn the singing of songs like “Kill the Boer”, after EFF Leader Julius Malema performed the chant during a Human Rights Day event last week.

The chant resulted in US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk again setting their sights on South Africa.

READ: SA in Trump’s sights again as Musk accuses the EFF of promoting ‘white genocide’

The organisation wrote to Ramaphosa on Tuesday with this request. Afriforum says if the President is serious about improving race relations and wants to ensure that all citizens of the country feel safe, condemning this ‘violent chant’ would be a decisive step in the right direction.

Head of Public Relations at AfriForum Ernst van Zyl says the President’s silence on the “Kill the Boer” chant reinforces the idea that he is more concerned about not upsetting the EFF than reassuring minority communities who have legitimate concerns and fears about being targeted and villainised.

“For years, the government has given the farmers of this country a cold shoulder and turned a blind eye to the extreme violence that affects farmers in the form of brutal farm attacks and murders. The government has also never condemned chants like ‘Kill the Boer’ that target farmers. That needs to change and the current crisis is the perfect opportunity.”

AfriForum has also asked that farm murders be declared a national priority offence as outlined by the Police Act.

“The government’s refusal to take the logical step and declare farm murders a priority crime only further confirms the notion that violent crimes that affect farmers and minority communities in particular are ignored by the government.”

Meanwhile, in response to the EFF’s use of the “Kill the Boer” chant, the Presidency says Afriforum should approach the courts on the matter, if they are unhappy about it.

In 2022, the Equality Court ruled that the singing of the song Dubul’ ibhunu – “Kill the Boer – Kill the Farmer” – was not hate speech. This ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal, which said that its lyrics could not be interpreted literally.

Netwerk24 asked Presidency Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya if Ramaphosa had received Afriforum’s letter, to which he responded that Afriforum’s loyalty lies with foreign leaders and countries they visit to spread their ‘racist lies’ about South Africa:

“It is irrelevant whether the president received the letter or not. They ignored the official crime statistics that painted a true picture of murders in South Africa in general and that proved that there are no mass killings of farmers in South Africa.”

“Pres. Ramaphosa was elected by the majority of voters in this country. He will devote his energy to serving all the people of South Africa in line with his constitutional obligations, and where there are grievances, he will openly engage in constructive dialogue to resolve those issues.

“What he will not do is dance to the tune of an organisation that is consistently trying to divide this country along racial lines, an organisation that is against transformation and that is intent on damaging our country’s image abroad.”