Ramaphosa stands firm against Trump: 'We will not arrest Malema over Kill the Boer'

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to United States President Donald Trump confronting him with clips of EFF leader Julius Malema chanting “Kill the boer,” saying that South South Africa will not be instructed by any foreign leader on whom it should arrest.

“When it comes to the issue of arresting anyone for any slogan, that is a sovereign issue,” Ramaphosa told the media on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) conference in Cape Town

“It's not a matter where we need to be instructed by anyone to go and arrest this one.”

Ramaphosa defended the controversial “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” chant, often sung by Malema, and called it a liberation song.

“We are a very proud, sovereign country that has its laws, that has its processes, and we take into account what the constitutional courts also decided.”

“The slogan, kill the boer, kill the farmer, is a liberation chant and slogan.”

“That’s not meant to be a message that elicits or calls upon anyone to go and be killed. And that is what our court decided,” he added.

He warned against external attempts to influence South Africa’s legal system.

“We follow the dictates of our constitution because we are a constitutional state and we are a country where freedom of expression is the bedrock of our constitutional arrangement.”

Ramaphosa’s comments come after Trump called for the arrest of Malema over his use of the controversial “Kill the Boer” chant, escalating already strained relations between the two countries.

Trump made the remarks during the meeting with President Ramaphosa at the White House. The meeting aimed to address growing diplomatic and economic tensions.

During the discussion, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen told Trump, top US officials, and media that his party joined the Government of National Unity to prevent certain political parties, particularly the EFF and uMkhonto weSizwe, from entering government.

In an explosive start to the talks, Trump sharply criticised what he described as the targeting of Afrikaner farmers. 

His comments were based on a video clip showing Malema speaking in Parliament about land reform.

The EFF claims the clip was misused to support a misleading narrative.

Just days after Trump called on Ramaphosa to arrest Malema for singing the controversial “Kill the Boer” chant, Malema once again led the song on Sunday and vowed to continue doing so.

“I’m not going to be silenced by the threat of violence. I’m not going to be silenced by the threat of death,” he said.

Malema made the remarks on Sunday at the Mminara Sports Ground in Kwakwatsi, Free State, ahead of local by-elections this week.

“When you say ‘don’t tell him,’ Ramaphosa should have said, ‘In South Africa, we don’t tell people like that.’ There are codes in South Africa, and the codes have said there is nothing wrong with this song,” he said.

Malema said he neither owns nor composed the song, which has been widely criticised for inciting violence.

“This is not my song. I did not compose this song. I found this song; the struggle heroes composed this song. All I’m doing is defending the legacy of our struggle…,” he said.

He described the chant as a part of South Africa’s liberation heritage.

“This is the song that was sung by Peter Mokaba in the presence of Chris Hani, in the presence of Winnie Mandela,” Malema said. 

“And therefore, I will never stop singing a song that Winnie Mandela sang before she died. That would be a betrayal of the struggle of our people.”