'Boere is bad', says young Malema supporter
2011-04-14 22:54
Johannesburg - An additional hate speech charge will be brought against ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and another against spokesperson Floyd Shivambu, AfriForum said on Thursday.
"AfriForum took this decision after Malema encouraged his followers outside the... High Court in Johannesburg to sing a song with the words 'shoot to kill' with him," the civil rights organisation's deputy CEO Ernst Roets said in a statement.
"Shivambu also sang the song dubula (i)bhunu (shoot the boer) outside the court this afternoon in front of a group of Youth League supporters, and encouraged them to sing along with him."
The civil rights group said it would lay the charges at the Equality Court, sitting in the South Gauteng High Court, at 09:00.
"If the Youth League really wanted to encourage peaceful co-existence in South Africa, they would rather have encouraged their followers to refrain from singing songs like that until the judge has given his verdict in the case that is currently being heard in court," Roets said.
Malema is currently standing trial on a charge of hate speech brought by AfriForum over his singing of the struggle song containing the lyrics "shoot the boer" or "awudubhule ibhunu".
Shivambu said no one sang any song containing the word "boer" outside the court.
"You can watch the TV footage, we never sang about that outside court, no one ever mentioned the word boer.
"They are being ridiculous. If they [AfriForum] want to waste their time and money, they are welcome to do that [lay charges]."
A test
Earlier, Malema told supporters outside the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg that the hate speech case against him is just a test for the "revolution".
"There is no individual on trial... they are testing our revolution... they are testing methods we used to defeat them," he told the gathering minutes after court proceedings adjourned.
"These judges are our judges, whether you like it or not, they work for the government... the government which is us the ANC."
He asked the group to maintain their "militancy" and not apologise for being "radical".
"We are here to defend our history," he said adding that the "incoming youth" should know about struggle songs.
Malema said blacks were still engaged in a struggle for economic emancipation and wanted to "own in this economy of South Africa".
"They must share the land with us... South Africa belongs to us, black and white." Malema has been brought to court over his singing the song "awudubhule ibhunu" or "shoot the boer" - which civil rights group AfriForum argues constitutes hate speech.
Malema told the crowd singing the song did not mean they were declaring war, or going to kill whites.
"Even in our singing, we must never be confused that we are declaring war... Even at the funeral of Chris Hani, even when we are angry... marching through the white suburbs... we have never killed any white person," he said to cheers.
He added that former President Nelson Mandela asked "us to forgive...but yet, we have not forgotten".
My president, my president
Before his talk, Malema, who was flanked by bodyguards and ANC MP Winnie Madikizela Mandela, repeatedly shouted into the microphone "Down with Helen Zille down" and "Down with DA down".
Madikizela-Mandela had been at Malema's side since proceedings started on Monday.
Many supporters, including a young girl, carried posters depicting white children riding on the backs of black children. When the little girl was asked if she knew what this meant, her reply was "boere is bad".
Another poster read: "We know Malema, you are going to be the next president of South Africa... We support nationalisation of mines, no one can stop you Malema, we will die for you Malema, ANC is going to rule until Jesus comes."
At lunch, supporters braved the rain while dancing to and singing "awudubhule ibhunu" outside court.
Two supporters were seen squeezing water off an ANC flag, whilst another rolled on the ground in water washing down the street.
During the morning a bus branded with ANC colours, with a picture of Jacob Zuma on the sides, picked up supporters from outside court.
As one man boarded the vehicle, he shouted: "My president, my president, leave my president alone."
Deep-seated insensitivity
Farmers' organisation Tau-SA, which is supporting AfriForum in its case, brought authorities on Afrikaner culture to testify.
They included dean of the law faculty at the University of Pretoria, Professor Anton Kok, and a former general in the SA National Defence Force - who had been conducting research into farm murders since 1990.
The court heard on Thursday that the concept of "kill the boer" threatened Afrikaners' symbolic connection to South Africa.
Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) (Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations) chairperson Professor Danie Goosen said:
"'Kill the boer' is experienced as an utterance which places the ideals of Afrikaners in a difficult space.
"The prevalent feeling [among Afrikaners] is very negative... not a single Afrikaner supports it [the utterance] within the confines that I move.
"... [It is] seen as a threat to their symbolic connection to South Africa. This 'kill the boer' concept creates a problem with the respect between the majority and minority."
Goosen told the court the FAK consisted of 27 organisations and was the largest body for Afrikaners, representing about 200 000 of them.
The utterances "shoot the boer" or "kill the boer" came from deep-seated insensitivity. He said the majority did not understand the problems of minority groups.
The case is being heard in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, sitting as the Equality Court.
More witnesses were expected to be called on Friday.
- SAPA