South African political parties split over ‘Kill the Boer’ chant after US ambassador’s remarks
South Africa’s political parties have taken sharply different positions after new US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III criticised the liberation-era chant “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer,” calling it hate speech and saying he did not care what South African courts had ruled.
Bozell’s comments, made at a BizNews conference in Hermanus this week, triggered an unusually swift response from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), which formally démarched the envoy, a diplomatic reprimand, and asked him to explain what it called “undiplomatic” remarks.
The controversy has reignited debate over the chant after South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled in March 2025 that the phrase does not amount to hate speech under South African law, following a case brought by AfriForum.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) moved to back Bozell on the chant, even while rejecting claims of “white genocide.” In a statement after PA leader Gayton McKenzie met Bozell, the party said a chant calling for the killing of a specific group is “totally unacceptable” and “hate speech, pure and simple,” adding, “No historical context can justify repeating language that celebrates the killing of fellow citizens.”
But the ANC and EFF were among those who attacked Bozell’s intervention, arguing a foreign ambassador should not undermine South Africa’s institutions or weigh into domestic political disputes. Parliament’s justice committee chair Xola Nqola also supported Dirco’s rebuke, saying, “Contemptuous remarks regarding our judicial system undermine the rule of law that both South Africa and the US state they uphold.”
On the other side, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) defended Bozell and said it agreed with what it described as US “conditions” for improved ties, including denouncing the chant and scrapping the Expropriation Act and BBBEE. Dirco said it would keep monitoring the ambassador’s public conduct, while the department’s director-general said Bozell had apologised and expressed regret, including for remarks that appeared to question the judiciary.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
