Fresh from his trip to the White House, and already, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments appear to have rubbed some people the wrong way.
This past week, the South African president travelled to Washington where he met with the United States President, Donald Trump, to reset relations between the countries. While the ANC leader attended the meeting optimistically, hoping that they would find common ground on their stance, things quickly took a dramatic turn following their engagement in the Oval Office, where Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema’s “Kill the Boer” chant became a hot topic.
This has since led Donald Trump to question why someone who promotes hate speech had not been arrested.
After returning to South Africa, this has remained a question many have asked, and Cyril has finally given his thoughts on the matter, where he highlighted that our constitution allows for the freedom of expression.
“We are a very proud sovereign country that has its own laws and own process. We take into account what the Constitutional Court has decided when it said that the ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ is a liberation chant and slogan. It’s not meant to be a message to call upon anyone to be killed… we follow the dictates of our constitution,” he explained.
Meanwhile this is not something that was well received by the media personality Piers Morgan.
Responding to the President’s comments via a post on X (formerly Twitter), the British talk show host, described Julius’ comments as being a literal threat.
Oh come off it, Mr President – it’s literally a threat, and incitement, to kill. https://t.co/1csC2sAmdo
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 27, 2025
Following Piers’ criticism of the president, many have since entered the comments to shed light on the situation.
One person wrote:
Oh come off it, Mr President – it’s literally a threat, and incitement, to kill. https://t.co/1csC2sAmdo
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 27, 2025
Another added:
Piers, this chant has been active in our political terrain since the early 90s, and no one has been killed as a result!
The problem is your lack of understanding of African culture, metaphors and idioms!
— African Elixir (@Elixir_Africa) May 27, 2025
Also see: Citizens deliberate on what President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the U.S means
