South African opposition leader Julius Malema vowed on Saturday to persist in chanting a contentious song that featured prominently during a tense White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

During the discussions in Washington on Wednesday, Trump confronted Ramaphosa with a four-minute video supporting his claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa, spotlighting Malema’s fiery rhetoric.

The footage showed Malema, leader of the Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), wearing the party’s signature red beret and chanting provocative slogans such as “cut the throat of whiteness” alongside the controversial anti-apartheid anthem “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer.”

Originating from South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle against white-minority rule, the decades-old “Kill the Boer” chant remains deeply divisive.

Its use post-apartheid infuriates many in white South African communities, who have repeatedly sought to have it banned.

Although a 2010 ban was lifted by courts citing the song’s historical context and its use by Malema as a provocative political tool rather than hate speech, it continues to spark heated debate.

Addressing a regional election rally, Malema defended the song as “the heritage of our struggle” and declared he would never stop singing it.

“It is not my song. I did not compose this song,” he said. “The struggle heroes composed this song. All I am doing is defending the legacy of our struggle.” He added, “To stop singing would be a betrayal of the struggle of our people.”

Malema, 44, founded the EFF in 2013 after his expulsion from the African National Congress Youth League amid accusations of sowing division.

His anti-capitalist and anti-US stance has won support primarily among young South Africans frustrated by enduring social inequality decades after apartheid’s end.

At the Oval Office meeting, Ramaphosa and his delegation sought to distance themselves from Malema’s rhetoric, signalling a diplomatic rift on the issue.