Is the infamous “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” chant by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema a literal call to violence, or “just a metaphor” as his defenders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa claim? I compiled a large body of evidence to disprove this false narrative.

To interrogate the meaning behind the chant, it is critical to start with its history. As James Myburgh has documented, when members of the ANC's military wing uMkhonto weSizwe were being taught songs and chants in the 1980s that called for the killing of “the Boers,” it was explicit African National Congress (ANC) policy for white farmers and civilians to be targeted.

In post-apartheid South Africa, for example, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard that Ntuthuko Chuene, a convicted murderer of a Vryheid farmer, admitted that his crime had been influenced by the "Kill the Boer" slogan, which he had heard at ANC rallies.

In the years that followed, more cases were document of the chant being directly linked to farm murders. In 2009, 78-year-old Alice Lotter and her daughter were brutally attacked near Welkom. Both were assaulted, mutilated with glass bottles, had body parts cut off, and were tortured to death. At the crime scene, the phrase “Kill the Boer” was found written on the walls of their home – using the victims’ own blood.

In 2018, the following threatening messages were spray-painted in red on a farmhouse door before a farm in the Western Cape was attacked: “Viva EFF”, “Viva JuJu” (Julius Malema’s nickname), and “Dubul' ibhunu” (‘Kill the farmer’). Six weeks later, three masked men entered the farmhouse and assaulted the farmer and his wife. The attackers reportedly poured petrol over the husband to burn him alive, but after he activated a panic button they fled. The wife said that she was still haunted by the “cruelty in their voices” and “hate in their eyes”.

In one of the most recent cases, four attackers forced their way into the farmhouse of Tim and Amanda Platt near Pietermaritzburg, beating them severely with bolt cutters and lead pipes. When they stabbed Amanda with a spear, they shouted: “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer!” While her husband was still fighting off the attackers, she managed to escape and returned armed to save him.

Denialism

Critics (or rather deniers) argue that the above cases are not sufficient to link “Kill the Boer” to farm murders. If that is indeed the case, these deniers must then explain why “Kill the Boer” is chanted at farm murder court cases.

In 2020, the body of 21-year-old Brendin Horner was found on a farm near Senekal, tied to a pole with a rope around his neck and a bloodstained knife at his feet. The EFF showed up at the court where the suspects were to appear and chanted “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” outside the courthouse, within earshot of Horner’s grieving parents.

In 2018, Malema publicly stated on social media that he is “maybe” organising farm murders. That same year AfriForum made a formal application to the National Police Commissioner to investigate Malema’s connection to farm murders. This was after Carte Blanche, an investigative television programme, had aired an interview by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate with a member of the 28s prison gang. The gang member claimed Malema had promised to help him to continue killing farmers when he was released from prison, and that he would provide gang members with balaclavas, weapons, and money to carry out their farm murders.

To further dispel doubt about the chant’s purpose, one must consider Malema’s stated view of white people and how they should be treated. When asked in the 2022 Equality Court’s “Kill the Boer” case whether he still believed that “all white people are criminals and should be treated as such”, as he had stated in the past, Malema answered: “Yes.” When asked whether he previously said that “we need a system to get rid of white people”, Malema responded: “Yes.” He continued: “If we go into a conference, or into Parliament, and make a constitutional amendment, that all whites must be driven into the sea, and any white who remains here is going to be killed, then we engage in that type of a programme to drive all whites into the sea. It’s an institutionalised decision.”

Political Aims

Now that Malema's view of white South Africans is established, the next step is to investigate his views on killing as a means to achieve his and the EFF's political aims.

In 2022, Malema told his supporters at a rally: “You must never be scared to kill. The revolution demands that at some point there must be killing because the killing is part of the revolution.” Also in 2022, Malema testified that "[a] revolutionary is a walking, killing machine! I am not scared of death! If that need arises, I will kill, and I will do so with no hesitation!” When he was asked whether he would endorse violence to achieve his revolutionary aims, Malema responded: “When the time comes and the conditions on the ground necessitate that arms must be taken, we will do so without hesitation.” Furthermore, Malema testified: “Let’s not make a mistake about it: We were singing with a clear conscience in our mind that if opportunity prevails, we will bomb the Union Buildings.”

I attended the above-mentioned "Kill the Boer" case and listened how an elderly farmer in a wheelchair broke down in tears on the stand as he told the story of losing his wife in a farm attack – an attack that left him paralysed. He also testified that the “Kill the Boer” chant caused him immense trauma.

I realised I was in the presence of true evil when I heard Malema’s unhinged response of repeatedly shouting that he was unmoved by this farmers’ testimony and that it would not make him stop chanting “Kill the farmer, shoot to kill”. When he was asked whether he would pledge under oath that he would never call for the slaughtering of white people, Malema answered in the negative.

In the same case, Malema testified that if every word of the EFF’s songs about killing was meant literally, he and his supporters would shoot real guns into the air on stage rather than simply gesturing with their hands. He was then asked: “Would you stand on stage with a real gun and shoot it in the air?” Malema became visibly panicked and refused to answer. In 2025, Malema was found guilty of firing an assault rifle into the air on stage at a rally in 2018.

In 2026, Malema explained to a crowd of supporters that the songs they sing were not just songs, they were “war cries” and that songs were used to educate people about what the revolution means. Recall what Malema stated what the revolution demands? Killing.

Without court cases by civil rights organisations such as AfriForum to expose Malema’s true sentiments, and publications like Politicsweb and others that document Malema’s own words, his defenders, as well as farm murder deniers, would have an easier time misleading people about the chant’s true intentions. One of the defining characteristics of disinformation today is lying by omitting information; therefore, I hope that this piece serves as another contribution towards filling these gaps.

Ernst van Zyl is the head of public relations at Afriforum.