Patriotic Alliance supports US ambassador on ‘Kill the Boer’ hate speech stance

Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie. Picture: X / @DIRCO_ZA United States (US) ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III has found another ally in Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie. The pair met on Friday in the wake of the political storm emanating from Bozell’s criticism of South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy earlier in the week.

Issues discussed included controversial political chants, the conflict in the Middle East and how the US and South Africa should be “partners, not adversaries”. Bozell was issued a démarche by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) for remarks made at a BizNews business conference earlier in the week. The ambassador said he considered theKill the Boerchant to be hate speech, regardless of the court’s opinion, and urged the business community to speak out against broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE).

Other than Dirco, Bozell was criticised by ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula and the EFF, among others. McKenzie visited Bozell on Friday in what the PA described as a discussion undertaken in the “spirit of mutual respect”. The party stated that while it disagreed with claims that there was genocide being committed against South Africa’s white population, theKill the Boerchant was wrong.

[paywall]

“As for the controversy around Ambassador Bozell expressing a personal opinion about the songKill the Boer, we believe it is ridiculous, and we stand with the ambassador. “The PA President has himself been consistent that a chant calling for the killing of a specific, named group of people – whether farmers, Boers, or any other community – is totally unacceptable. “It is hate speech, pure and simple. No historical context can justify repeating language that celebrates the killing of fellow citizens,” the Patriotic Alliance stated.

[/paywall]