More trouble for Malema?

2008-07-14 22:19

Johannesburg - The Democratic Alliance is asking the SA Human Rights Commission to investigate a reported statement by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema on the "elimination" of the DA.

"In the context of Mr Malema's previous exhortation for people to 'kill in support of Jacob Zuma', it is not unreasonable to assume that Malema is calling for the killing of members of the DA or those who are earnestly working in our judicial institutions to ensure that justice is dispensed without fear of favour," said DA parliamentary caucus leader Sandra Botha on Monday.

"Malema may have adjusted his vocabulary, but his intentions clearly remain the same."

Botha said the DA wrote to the SAHRC on the matter on Monday.

Counter-revolution

In a speech prepared for delivery at a funeral on Sunday, Malema said that as the country prepares for the 2009 general elections, questions need to be asked in relation to how service delivery can be accelerated, and poverty halved by 2014.

He said this could only have meaning if "we rise above our petty differences and work together in building a South Africa we can all be proud of.

"We must also intensify the struggle to eliminate the remnants of counter-revolution, which include the DA and a loose coalition of those who want to use state power to block the ANC president's ascendancy to the highest office of the land."

The DA said that given the high levels of violence prevalent in South Africa and the country's history of intolerance, "such comments are not only reckless in the extreme, they constitute a clear and present danger to our constitutional order".

Botha said Malema's comments would create a "climate of intolerance and an acceptance of violence" to further political ends.

The party believed it important that the SAHRC clamps down on similar statements made in the future.

More synonyms for kill

By Malema's assurance that he will never use the word "kill" again in public, the DA believed the SAHRC had created the space for Malema to undermine democracy.

"If the HRC fails to take swift action against Malema now, then it is likely that we will see Malema merely finding more synonyms for the word "kill" in future statements."

During a Youth Day rally in Thaba Nchu in the Free State in June, Malema said: "We are prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma."

He said the word "kill" was meant to demonstrate love and passion for Zuma.

A week later Congress of SA Trade Unions secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi said: "So yes, because Jacob Zuma is one of us, and he is one of our leaders, for him, we are prepared to lay our lives and to shoot and kill."

Monday is the deadline the SAHRC set for Vavi to apologise.

- SAPA