Lobby group AfriForum on Tuesday called on the international community to impose sanctions against Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and others who are “guilty of gross human rights violations through their public calls for violence against Afrikaners and farmers”.

Last week, the organisation lost its appeal in the Constitutional Court to have the chant declared hate speech.

AfriForum has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to publicly condemn the anti-apartheid ‘Kill the Boer’ chant, recently sung by Malema during a Human Rights Day Commemoration in Sharpeville.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said the call for personal sanctions is part of its international campaign against the “Kill the Boer” chant, and added that the organisation’s legal team was preparing a dossier against Malema and his colleagues, which would apparently show how they violated human rights and expressed their support for terrorist organisations.

“It will also highlight the serious allegations of corruption against them. The dossier will be presented to governments worldwide to emphasise the need for personal sanctions,” he added.

Kriel said those who violated human rights by inciting violence should not be “untouchable”.

“…if justice is not served locally, AfriForum will continue to use alternative remedies abroad,” Kriel said.

He described the call for international punitive measures against Malema as “necessary”, by arguing that the Constitutional Court’s “legalisation” of the ‘Kill the Boer’ chant, in an earlier ruling, meant that Malema could not be called to account in South Africa for his hate speech against Afrikaners and farmers.

AfriForum said it would also request international governments to express concern through diplomatic channels to the South African government and to take issues with what AfriForum believes is Ramaphosa’s refusal to condemn calls for violence against Afrikaners and farmers, by not publicly denouncing the chant.

Meanwhile, the EFF insisted it would continue singing the struggle song.