Image Source: The Citizen
South Africa – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have formally condemned remarks made by Kenny Kunene, the MMC for Transport in the City of Johannesburg and Deputy President of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), regarding illegal miners and said they would report him to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Kunene recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to advocate for the slaughter, skinning, and hanging of alleged illegal miners in South Africa. The EFF has labelled these comments as reckless, dehumanizing, and a blatant violation of human rights.
On January 19, 2025, Kunene shared an image of slaughtered and skinned sheep, implying that illegal miners would face the same fate under his party’s leadership.
“This is the chilling fate that awaits all illegal miners robbing South Africans of their natural resources and wealth when the Patriotic Alliance takes over the government. Salute,” he wrote on X.
The EFF criticized this rhetoric as a harmful and opportunistic ploy to garner electoral support by stoking hatred and fear. They argued that such remarks exacerbate xenophobia and undermine South Africa’s constitutional values, including the right to life and principles of justice and equality.
Kunene’s remarks follow the tragic events at Stilfontein Mine, where over 80 illegal miners lost their lives. The EFF accused Kunene of weaponizing this tragedy to advance a political agenda, referring to illegal miners as “rats who must be extinguished.”
According to the EFF, these statements reveal a disturbing commitment to inciting violence and disregarding the rule of law.
“The EFF is appalled that a government official, who is tasked with a major responsibility in the Executive of the City of Johannesburg, has no regard for the rule of law and natural justice and uses his platform to spew unadulterated hate.”
“It is even more concerning that he expresses that the political party he leads, which already has representation in the national government, will slaughter and skin human beings, showing no regard for the Constitution of South Africa, within which the right to life is enshrined.”
The EFF intends to approach the City of Johannesburg’s Ethics Committee to seek sanctions against Kunene for his conduct as a councillor and member of the Executive.
Additionally, they plan to explore measures with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to hold the Patriotic Alliance accountable for promoting hate speech and human rights violations. The party emphasized that issues of immigration and crime must be addressed through the justice system, ensuring fair trials and rehabilitation where appropriate.
“As a former convict himself, who stole the money of the poor through fraud and Ponzi schemes, Kunene does not have the moral authority to speak on what sanctions ought to be imposed for those alleged to have stolen the wealth of South Africa.”
“Kenny Kunene should have the grace to appreciate the legal system of South Africa, which afforded him a second chance after he stole the money of vulnerable people, otherwise under his barbaric proposals, he too would have been slaughtered, skinned and hung to dry like an animal.”
