Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy President Kenny Kunene says he is unfazed by the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) threats to report him to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over his disparaging comments about illegal miners, also known as Zama Zamas.

Dismissing EFF President Julius Malema as a “lover of illegal foreigners” Kunene says his party, known for its anti-immigration policy, will always put South Africans ahead of foreign nationals who are in the country without valid documents.

Kunene, a former EFF national leader with a history of an acrimonious relationship with Malema, started the tirade against Zama Zamas last week during a panel discussion hosted by 24-hour news channel Newzroom Afrika. 

He condemned the illegal miners, saying they should die like rats underground and he had no sympathy for them.

That was after 78 dead bodies of illegal miners were retrieved from an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein in the North West Province.

Kunene later made the same comments, irking the EFF which said the PA deputy president was spreading hate and violence against foreign nationals.

Kunene took to his X (Twitter) account where he posted a video responding to Malema, with whom he has fought running legal battles in recent years after calling him a rat. He was unapologetic about his stance and dared the EFF.

“I am not fazed by the actions of (Julius) Malema, he has shown many times and on many occasions that he is a lover of illegal foreigners, he is a lover of illegal foreigners, he protects illegal foreigner,” Kunene.

He alleged that the illegal miners are involved in other criminal activices like gang rape and robbery. 

“These illegal foreigners who are mining our gold underground illegally, when they come out of the underground like rats, they go and rape young South Africans, they rob South Africans, they kill and murder South Africans.

“We saw in the West Rand when they raped young girls who were trying to make a living,” Kunene alleged.