Equality Court went too far, says Malema

2011-09-14 15:19

Johannesburg - The ANC Youth League will ask Parliament to protect liberation songs, league president Julius Malema said on Wednesday.

He said the Equality Court went too far in interdicting the use of the lyrics "shoot the boer".

"We are also going to Parliament to demand a legislation that will protect this song," he told reporters in Johannesburg after the league announced its plans to appeal against Monday's ruling.

Malema said presiding Judge Colin Lamont had misunderstood ubuntu, favoured minorities and given too much weight to the fear of genocide.

He had been generous and gave AfriForum what it had not even asked for, by banning the public or private singing of the song.

Judiciary protecting minorities

The league intended marching to the Constitutional Court over the issue.

Malema said this case, the five-year partially suspended drunken driving sentence for former Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride and the R750 000 fine for rugby player Bees Roux for killing a metro policeman, was proof the judiciary was not transformed and protected minorities.

He said Lamont made the finding by himself without consulting him.

There appeared to be a problem with an individual and the judge seemed to have an agenda, he said.

Malema said people appeared to be confusing revolution with genocide, adding that there was no intention of genocide. Liberation songs were not "love songs".

"You want a struggle song to have love words in it, how can that be?" Malema asked.

He revealed the league was considering excluding the media from its events.

"In most cases you distort what we are saying," Malema said.

- SAPA