Zuma's song 'worse than Bok's'
2007-02-07 21:42
Pretoria - Bok van Blerk's song De la Rey is not nearly as "potentially subversive as ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma's song, Umshini wami, said the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday.
The DA's spokesperson on arts and culture, Desiree van der Walt, reacted to a warning from the department of arts and culture that De la Rey was in danger of being "hijacked" by rightwingers who want to mislead Afrikaans speakers into believing the song is a struggle song that sent out a "call to arms".
She said: "Although we in the official opposition are admittedly not such seasoned experts on identifying a 'rallying point for treason', we do suspect that in comparison to the De La Rey song there may be something even more 'potentially subversive' to former deputy president Jacob Zuma's number, Awuleth'umshini wami," said Van der Walt.
Crowd-pulling ability
She said Umshini wami has "proven its crowd-pulling" ability often "outside the law courts of our country".
"In order to ensure maximum enlightenment for all South Africans, the DA would further like to encourage the department in future to point out specifically how these and other "potentially subversive" songs violate the founding principles of our democracy as found in the constitution," she said.
- SAPA