KILL THE BOER CHANT SPARKS OUTRAGE

Chiara Dover
@chiaradoverr

 

Over the past few weeks, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and United States President Donald Trump bumped heads over the Economic Freedom Fighter’s (EFF) campaign “Kill the boer, kill the farmer”, and the murders of white farmers in South Africa. The highly anticipated meeting between Ramaposa and Trump at the White House on Wednesday, 21 May, escalated the chant “Kill the boer” when Trump called out Malema for this action and asked why he had not yet been arrested.

 

Although many South Africans were relieved that a politician finally brought the issue to light on a global platform, nobody expected it would move students to bring this “fight” to the Potchefstroom campus.

 

At 23:00 on Thursday, 5 June, in the parking area in front of the J6 exam hall – better known as the Weet-en-sweet – a group of NWU students caused a big commotion when they chanted “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” chant, adding foul language. Videos taken by students in the surrounding residencies have been circulating, enraging other students and parents.

 

Most people vented their frustrations in the comment section of the video Afriforum Jeug posted on Afriforum Jeug’s official Instagram page. The comments vary between anger about hate speech and laughing the matter off.

 

“So, some people are supposed to feel safe on campus… but the people (students) that were singing that were also on campus? Where was security, since the [main entrance] gate was like 100m away from them,” one person commented under the post.

 

People have been tagging the NWU and Donald Trump in this post. Afriforum Jeug has launched a petition to pressure the NWU to punish the students who took part in the chanting.

 

According to Caxton Network News, NWU spokesperson Louis Jacobs said in response, that the NWU takes the violation of human rights and campus rules seriously and that the guilty parties will be fairly punished for their actions.

 

Lizbé du Preez, the former Primaria of Karlien women’s residence, is one of those who are unhappy. She was asked to leave the campus in 2022 after giving a speech in Afrikaans, even though she argued that it was her right according to the University’s language policy. “The NWU should take the same steps to punish these students. Now is the time for the cameras that have been advertised as a unique feature of the NWU to be utilised in search of the offenders.” she insisted.

 

A resident of Over-de-Voor men’s residence said a house committee member did ask the protestors to leave, but they allegedly only disbanded after swearing at the residence as well. Another Over-de-Voor resident said that many of residents are Afrikaans and come from farming families, which makes such an incident upsetting.

 

In the wake of this incident, questions are being raised not only about the safety and inclusivity of campuses like NWU-Pukke but also about how political ideologies influence student behavior. With Afriforum Jeug’s petition gaining traction and NWU promising disciplinary action, the university community now waits to see whether this moment will lead to meaningful accountability—or simply fade into another unresolved controversy. Either way, the chant may have ended that night, but its echoes continue to divide, provoke, and call into question the values upheld on NWU’s campuses.

 

“Kill the Boer” chant between Julius Malema (left) and Cyril Ramaphosa (right) (Source: OFM)

 

Edited by Mhlengi Khumalo