So the ANC is defending Julius Malema for singing a song containing the lyrics, “Shoot the boere, they are rapists”.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu told Sapa by phone on Thursday morning that he will defend Malema and that the song should be seen in context (Read full article).

He continues to say: 

"The issue is, indeed, some people might be correct that there might be songs we should not sing. Let them put them on the agenda and convince the ANC that we should not sing those songs and tell us why.

"But then they should also look at songs that were sung by the forces of oppression."

Let’s look at this statement

Forces of oppression would most probably refer to the white government in the apartheid era and thereby extend to all whites I suppose.

Now I was in an Afrikaans school and I was also in the Voortrekkers.  For those who don’t know, the Voortrekkers is like the boy scouts, but it celebrates the heritage of the Afrikaner nation who moved from the coastal regions inland toward what is now known as the Freestate, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Now when I was at school and part of those youth movement it was pre 1994 and the country was still caught up in the Apartheid era.  Yes we sang songs...

But I never recall one song of hate speech containing the words or any reference to “kill the kafirs”.  Our Afrikaner songs are about fun stuff like making coffee and having braai’s.  So what song should we bring Mr Mthembu?  Please supply a list so that we can also know about them.

Generaal, Generaal

Now in the mentioned article, Mthembu doesn’t name the song but refers to De La Rey, by Bok van Blerk ,as an Afrikaans song that could be seen as offensive.  The song is clearly about the Anglo-Boer and has got nothing to do with Apartheid.

But I would like to challenge Jackson Mthembu on his reasoning for defending the song sung by Julius Malema:

"It [the song] says, 'some people are cowards', it says, 'use your gun to shoot', because it is reminiscent of fighting a war."

It refers to all people who are cowards, including blacks who were cowards, Mthembu said.

"[It is about]... black people who were cowards... it means oppressive forces, it means those who are against transformation, those who are saying this ANC regime is against the 'blanke volk' [the white nation].

Now Jackson, if I were to use this logic and apply to the word “kafir”, then I would not be guilty of hate speech if I say that, there are currently white and black kafirs in South Africa.  In this context I am using a word that is considered hate speech and I am generalizing it by making it inclusive to both white and black South Africans.

If I really want to play it save I will say that we also have Indian, Chinese and Colored kafirs in South Africa.

Using your logic and keeping it in that context, will I be allowed to walk down the street and shout it out?  I don’t think so and I bet that you would have a problem with it as well.

Why is the ANC scared of Julius?

I honestly get the feeling that the ANC is scared of Julius Malema.  He does and says what he wants and he gets defended time after time.

As the ruling party they are trying to create and inclusive country but Malema is excluded from it when it comes to certain aspects.  Currently Julius Malema seems to be the only person in South Africa who gets to practice freedom of speech – or is it freedom of song?

Let’s wrap this up

I most probably committed hate speech by using the word “kafir” in a blog posting.  I am not promoting it as much as I am trying to make the point that if it is okay for Malema to get away with similar behaviour, I can as well.

Not that I should.

But what applies to one South African should apply to the next, irrelevant of the past and which side of Apartheid you were on.  Apartheid should be remembered in order for us as a country to never make the same mistakes again.  It should not be used as an excuse for child-like behaviour.

Move on please...