South African-born tech billionaire, Elon Musk took to Twitter (or X, as it is now known) to accuse the EFF of ‘openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa’, drawing the ire of many South Africans.
They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa. @CyrilRamaphosa, why do you say nothing?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2023
Musk’s tweet was slammed as misinformation with some saying there was no genocide in the country. In light of this comment and others like it, it might be high time to remind what genocide actually is.
What is and what isn’t classified as a genocide?
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, genocide is an internationally recognised crime where crimes and acts are committed with the clear intent to destroy - whether it is in whole or in part - a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
These acts fall into five categories namely: Killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
So before you accuse a group of genocide (which is a bold and serious accusation), ask yourself the following questions:
Does the group kill members of a certain group with the intention of partially or completely destroying them? Are they inflicting harm to the extent of physical destruction? Are they preventing births within the group? If the answers to these questions are “No” then it is by definition not genocide and you should rather be paying attention to your broken site.
It is also worth noting that there are several serious and violent crimes that do not fall under the definition of genocide.
These may include horrible crimes such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and mass killings.
Why did Musk bring up genocide?
Musk’s comment comes after an uproar over Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) leader Julius Malema singing ‘Kill the Boer’ at the EFF’s 10th-anniversary celebrations at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.
On Monday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader John Steenhuisen said the party will file charges at the United Nations Human Rights Council against both Malema and the African National Congress government for Malema chanting “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer”.
In response, South Africans called for the removal of 'Die Stem' from the national anthem and to "normalise" sitting down when it is sung, calling it a hate crime song and a remnant of the country’s apartheid past.
Others defended ‘Die Stem’ and slammed ‘Kill the Boer’, saying ‘Die Stem’ was still part of the national anthem and that ‘Kill the Boer’ incited hate and violence.
IOL