ANC 'must join Malema case'

2010-04-01 14:10

Pretoria - The ANC and its youth league should be involved in a court case brought against youth leader Julius Malema as he speaks on behalf of the organisation, his attorneys said on Thursday.

Advocate Vas Soni spent most of the morning in the Palace of Justice in Pretoria arguing about technicalities and trying to convince the court that the case be postponed.

AfriForum and Tau-SA were applying for an urgent interim interdict to stop ANCYL president Julius Malema from singing "shoot the boer".

No affidavits were filed on behalf of Malema and Soni said this was because his client was not given enough time to do so.

Soni said if a postponement were granted, it would allow the ANC and its youth body - which should be involved in this matter - to file papers.

"The respondent wants time... he should be given an opportunity to respond," he said.

Refusal to apologise

Malema was currently in Zimbabwe. AfriForum's representative said that Malema's statement to kill whites was enough for them to be granted the order for him to desist from making such statements.

He said the fact that Malema repeatedly sang the song was a sign that he knew what was coming for him. He continued singing the song despite receiving correspondence from the Afrikaner youth, warning him against singing it.

The applicants intend submitting that the word 'boer', in this context, is a derogatory word referring to farmers, whites and to Afrikaners in particular.

They said it can be a dangerous incentive to violence.

The court action follows Malema's refusal to apologise by last Friday for the lyrics, which he was recorded as singing at a recent University of Johannesburg rally and had sung several times since.

Last Friday, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that the use of the words was unconstitutional and unlawful.

This was after action brought by Delmas businessman Willem Harmse to prevent his colleague Mahomed Vawda from using the words on banners and singing them during a planned march against crime.

AfriForum and TAU SA said that ruling only applied to the dispute between the two individuals.

- SAPA