In the midst of this political tumult, the Constitutional Court last month dealt a fatal blow to AfriForum's legal efforts to have "Shoot the Boer" (and related words) declared to be hate speech. The timing was somewhat unfortunate, as it seemed to support the claim by Trump's influencers that Afrikaners are systemically persecuted in South Africa and cannot even obtain protection from the courts.

But a closer look at the litigation is warranted.