https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Freedom_Fighters

During a 2016 political rally, EFF leader Julius Malema stated, "We are not calling for the slaughter of white people, at least for now."

While still the ANCYL leader, Malema was taken to the Equality Court by AfriForum for repeatedly singing "dubul' ibhunu", meaning "shoot the Boer".

South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission disqualified EFF councillor Thabo Mabotja from the 2016 local elections due to a tweet by Mabotja calling for the hacking and killing of white South Africans.

Speaking at a political rally in 2018, Malema told supporters to "go after a white man", a reference to Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip, adding that "we are cutting the throat of whiteness".

Following the death of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Malema tweeted a number of controversial quotes from the late Mugabe that were malicious towards white people, most notably "The only white man you can trust is a dead white man".

The South African Minority Rights Equality Movement initiated a court case against Malema for inciting racial sentiment by stating that a "majority of Indians are racist" at an EFF Youth Day rally in 2018.

The EFF was criticised by the South African Council of Churches, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, and the ANC for comparing Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to a "dog" whilst protesting against the Zondo Commission inquiry into government corruption. The EFF also accused the anti-corruption investigators of being members of an "Indian cabal" commenting on the presence of Indian South Africans making up the investigative team.

EFF leadership and its supporters have been criticised for using Gordhan's second name, Jamnadas, as a racial dog whistle to highlight to his Indian ethnicity in a pejorative way and question his status as a South African on social media.

Anthony Mathumba, an EFF councillor of the Makhado Local Municipality, is currently in court for hate speech. In June 2020, he is alleged to have created a Twitter account where he pretended to be a white woman and made racist comments to black women.