South Africa: Civil Society Must Fight Back Against Kunene's Hate Speech

Johannesburg mayoral committee member for transport Kenny Kunene went on a supposed oversight visit to the south of the city last week. In the press release that preceded the visit, Kunene said he would be inspecting sinkholes caused by illegal mining activities.

What was meant to be an official government visit soon turned into a cesspool of xenophobia and bigotry as Kunene used the moment to spew hate towards foreign nationals. He blamed undocumented foreigners for the sinkholes in various parts of southern Joburg and called on the army to intervene and "kill them". He referred to them as "rats" that must be given "Rattex" - a rodent poison.

Yes, we have a serious problem of illegal mining activities and most of those involved tend to be foreign nationals. But such dehumanising and dangerous language is unacceptable, especially from a so-called political leader. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Rwandan genocide started with such dehumanising language like "cockroaches" and "rats". Soon the country was in flames and is still reeling from the aftermath of the wanton killing of close to 1 million people - mostly Tutsis, moderate Hutus and others.

I know that the likely refrain from anyone reading this is to say, "But we are not Rwandans," as we believe in a false sense of South African exceptionalism. This is a belief that such a thing can never happen here. Yes, it will not happen if more people stand up and stop the likes of Kunene and his ilk from spewing and getting away with such language.

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This is not the time to say, "It does not affect me".

Such populist and inflammatory language is only going to get worse as we edge closer to the November 2026 local government elections. Kunene is not only an MMC member, but he is also the Patriotic Alliance's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg and the party's deputy president.

But we should not expect the current mayor Dada Morero to hold Kunene accountable nor should we expect PA leader Gayton McKenzie to do so either. If anything McKenzie shares the same anti-immigrant views as Kunene. Morero, on the other hand, is fighting for his political life and has tended to pander to populist sentiment. He has openly "retweeted" posts by Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma , the leader of the xenophobic grouping "March and March".

That is why it should not be left to political players to hold their counterparts accountable. They tend to close ranks. Civil society and democracy-loving South Africans should do so. Kunene should, at the very least, be reported to the SA Human Rights Commission for his hate-filled rant. This is not a man fit to lead the City of Johannesburg.

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Ngalwa is the Editor-in-Chief of Our City News