'It's hate speech': Zille slams Malema's 'attack' on white men

Helen Zille has accused EFF leader Julius Malema of hate speech after comments he made about targeting white men instead of black foreigners.

Delivering a speech in Mamusa, North West, on Sunday ahead of by-elections there, Malema said it was wrong to target Nigerians, adding that black people were “afraid of collapsing the statues of white people”.

“As black people, we kill Nigerians, accusing them of selling drugs, and we kill Zimbabweans, accusing them of stealing our jobs.

“Yet the white man committed genocide against us, took land, raped our mothers, killed our child in Coligny for picking up a sunflower. They kill our people saying they have mistaken them for baboons.

“You’re even afraid to collapse the statues of white people. Why? Because you hate yourself.”

Malema went on to call for unity, saying: “Black People in SA, in Africa and in the diaspora, we are all the same, we are all facing the same struggle. We must unite.”

Taking to Twitter, the DA's federal council chairperson accused Malema of hate speech.

Zille said he was guilty of “another string of hateful race generalisations”, adding: “Will there be an outcry? I’ll wait a while.”

Zille's tweet sparked a debate, with many criticising her and supporting Malema. 

However, some agreed that Malema often uses hate speech to deliver messages to his supporters.

Here is a snapshot of the reactions: