Is the controversial song urging the killing of “Boers” truly part of the ANC’s liberation struggle heritage, or are such claims simply an ingenuous, or perhaps sinister, attempt by the ANC leadership to defend its Youth League leader Julius Malema by distorting the historical truth? Or is the ANC itself trying to rewrite history after it accused the courts of doing so when two successive court rulings found the song to incite racial hatred – findings in line with one already made by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) as long ago as 2003? These are questions that come to the fore from an investigation into the origins of the controversial song, "Dubula iBhunu".
The truth seems to be that words to the same effect first were chanted in Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) circles in the early 1990s along with their infamous slogan of “one settler, one bullet”. Shortly thereafter, the late ANC youth leader Peter Mokaba borrowed the slogan and began chanting his “kill the Boer, kill the farmer” version in 1993 after the murder of ANC and Communist Party leader, Chris Hani.
In none of the sources on the origins of the song which could be identified, could any indication be found that the song has ever been part of the ANC repertoire of songs during the struggle days. Although the controversial song sung by Malema is claimed now to be a historical liberation struggle song, it was not included in a 2-CD history and recording of 25 freedom songs released in 2002. Senior ANC and former Umkhonto we Sizwe leaders, including Ronnie Kasrils, Baleka Mbete and Pallo Jordan among others, had collaborated in the production of the collection.
At the time of its release, the CD set was described as a collection of field recordings of songs and chants used in the liberation struggle, complemented by a radio documentary providing an overview of the songs, their history and context in the struggle. These songs were sung in ANC camps, at meetings, mass rallies, demonstrations and other gatherings. The set, it was said, was designed as an archival and historical document. Nowhere did it mention “kill the Boer, kill the farmer” or “shoot the Boer”.
All indications are that the slogan or chant and the song, or even songs that developed from it, originated with the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). In August 1999, Thomas Ramaila told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he had been a PAC operative and had been influenced by what he called a PAC slogan, namely “kill the farmer, kill the Boer” to kill a farmer, Neville Rudman. Most of Ramaila’s testimony and his amnesty application were rejected, but his reference to the slogan was not. The slogan/song in any version was used first in circles associated with the PAC in the early 1990s, although the PAC never officially took ownership of it and, after the first democratic elections of 1994, distanced itself from it. At almost the same time, the ANC’s Mokaba began using the slogan in 1993 when the armed struggle for all intents and purposes was a thing of the past.
In that same year, a large crowd of PAC supporters marched through Cape Town’s Kenilworth and Claremont suburbs, demanding the release of PAC members who had been arrested in connection with the massacre of 11 churchgoers at the St. James Church and chanted “kill the Boer, kill the farmer”, “one settler, one bullet” and “one church, one bomb”. Also in 1993, at a rally in Tembisa near Johannesburg, both Mokaba and a PAC representative used these or similar words in speeches to the large crowd. Mokaba reportedly also urged the crowd to direct their “bullets” at then president FW de Klerk, declaring that he hated De Klerk. To which the PAC representative added, “war against the enemy... kill them”.
In March this year, a former participant in an August 1993 march (called “Operation Barcelona”) against increased exam fees in Cape Town, wrote in a comment to an article on the Internet, that he was among PASO (PAC student wing) students in the march who chanted “kill the Boer, kill the farmer” immediately before American student Amy Biehl was killed by members of that mob.
In 2002, then president Thabo Mbeki, as president of the ANC, and in 2003 then ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe - who is now ANC deputy president - firmly and unambiguously distanced the ANC from any such song or slogan, saying it had never been, and would never be, a part of the ANC. No claim was made then that it – in any form - ever had been an ANC liberation struggle song. That is until now, when, in March this year, Malema began singing a generic version of Mokaba’s chant. Suddenly senior ANC leaders, among them secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, are claiming this to be an old ANC liberation struggle song that apparently never was sung to incite violence against white farmers or whites in general, but was aimed against the apartheid regime.
Mcebisi Ndletyana, senior researcher at the Human Science Research Council - in another defence of the song and attack on the judges who ruled against its use in an article in "The Sunday Independent" - claims the song embodies black hatred of “whiteness”, but not of people of European descent... with a very wooly explaination of what the difference is intended to be.
No documentary or other evidence could be found that the chant or related songs were indeed ANC liberation songs before 1993, when the liberation struggle was practically over and constitutional negotiations in full swing. The Mokaba chant of “kill the farmer, kill the Boer” was next heard in June 2002 at an ANC Youth League meeting in Kimberley, and at Mokaba’s funeral in Limpopo. The funeral was attended by prominent ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela and Mbeki, and the chanting was stopped immediately.
The Freedom Front lodged a complaint of hate speech with the HRC, which subsequently rejected it. However Mbeki, as president of the ANC and the country at the time, on 19 June of that year told Parliament: “Nobody in our country has a right to call for the killing of any South African, whatever the colour, race, ethnic origin, gender or health condition of the intended victim. Those farmers and boers are as much South African and African as I am...”
In June 2003, the HRC, chaired by Professor Karthy Govender, assisted by Professor Henk Botha and Mr Khashane Manamela, heard an appeal by the Freedom Front against the earlier HRC ruling. In their decision, delivered on 15 July, they overturned the earlier HRC ruling and found that the slogan "Kill the farmer, kill the boer" as chanted at the ANC youth rally in Kimberley and at the funeral of Mokaba constituted hate speech as defined in section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution.
What is even more interesting is that part of the record of submissions made to the HRC at the time contains a letter from Motlanthe, then ANC secretary-general, stating that the ‘’utterance has never been, cannot and will never be a slogan of the ANC, not used by the ANC at all.’’ The logical assumption then is that, according to Motlanthe, it was not part of the ANC’s liberation struggle heritage.
Source: Leadership online
Showing posts with label Peter Mokaba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Mokaba. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hanging himself in public?
Julius Malema's recent "struggle song" has led to another charge of hate speech against him -- in the same week that the Equality Court found him guilty of the same charge deriving from his comments on Jacob Zuma's rape accuser.
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president sang the song at his 29th birthday celebrations in Limpopo this month, and again last week while addressing students at a rally at the University of Johannesburg.
The song lyrics include "dubul' ibhunu" (shoot the Boer), and "ziyareypa lezinja" (these dogs are raping). [Full lyrics below].
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe defended the song last weekend, saying: "Anyone who relegates this song to hate speech is part of those who are trying to erase our history. That would be unfortunate, as it is a struggle song that was used when we were still fighting for liberation. This song will not be erased from our history because of people who are sensitive."
The song echoes the slogan "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer", associated especially with late ANCYL president Peter Mokaba. On Monday this week, civil rights group AfriForum Youth laid a charge of hate speech against Malema at the Equality Court.
This was the same day on which the Equality Court found Malema guilty of hate speech for comments he made about Zuma's rape accuser. Addressing students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in January 2009, Malema said, "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money. In the morning that lady requested breakfast and taxi money"
The Mail & Guardian asked five high-profile experts on freedom of speech, constitutional law and both Afrikaner and black nationalism what they thought of Malema's recent bursts into song.
* Hermann Giliomee, historian and author of Afrikaners: Biography of a People, said the song was "dangerous and likely to incite some people".
* Pierre de Vos, constitutional law lecturer at the University of Cape Town, said songs like these were sung at a specific time "when an apartheid government needed to be overthrown. Because we are in a democracy, there is no need for those songs. If you follow human rights, Mr Mantashe's defence will not hold -- apartheid is no more."
Because of Malema's history and the insecurity of minority groups in the country, "some people are reacting to the person saying it", instead of what is being said, De Vos said.
* Melissa Moore, acting director of the Freedom of Expression Institute, said, "It is extremely worrying that the leaders of our country view this kind of speech as acceptable. This indicates a blatant disregard and disrespect for fundamental human rights and the well-being of South African society.
"Malema's statement amounts to hate speech, which is a form of speech that is not protected by the Constitution. Section 16(2) (c) of the Constitution prohibits the advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. The statement clearly incites harm to a specific group of people based on their race and ethnicity. Such speech should not be condoned and should not go unpunished."
* Zandi Radebe, spokesperson for Blackwash, a Black Consciousness youth social movement based in Soweto, said, "Malema's behaviour is predictable." Blackwash condemns any hate speech, regardless of who it comes from. "For me the issue is: Why do we continuously applaud the behaviour of people like Julius Malema? He makes the same noise and we give him the same reaction, I'm really tired of this."
* Jane Duncan, professor of journalism at Rhodes University, said, "Struggle songs help people to remember the spirit of resistance that led to South Africa's transition to democracy. For as long as South Africa remains untransformed on many levels of the social formation -- for instance, racism or economic inequalities remain -- these songs will continue to be sung, as people take courage from the spirit of resistance from the past to overcome the injustices of the present."
"The song as sung by Mokaba could not be considered hate speech, even when people sung it at Mokaba's funeral, and the Human Rights Commission [HRC] erred in making this judgement at the time. In order for speech to constitute incitement to cause harm, specific targets of that harm need to be identified. The song cannot be said to be directed at specific individuals, and in fact, the song is strongly metaphorical in that it refers to the system of apartheid being killed, so the specificity of speech that is necessary for something to constitute incitement to cause harm was absent.
"In addition, the HRC extended the definition of harm too far, to include psychological harm to 'minorities or vulnerable groups': forms of harm that are virtually impossible to prove as they are too subjective. If the song was not hate speech then, then it is doubtful that Malema's rendition of the song constituted hate speech either.
"The point is that these struggle songs will not go away, and banning them out of existence will merely reinforce their mystique, leading to greater determination to chant them.
"The tide is turning against Malema; every time he opens his mouth, it becomes clearer that he is not leadership material. He should be allowed the space to hang himself in public. The tendency of many social actors to cry 'hate speech' every time Malema says something outrageous may backfire against those with genuine grievances in the long run.
"The Equality Court's recent ruling against Malema's 'hate speech' underlines the problem. His statements were stupid and misogynistic, but the court's ruling has broadened the definition of hate speech so much that speech that is merely considered to be harmful can now be proscribed. This means that huge swathes of speech on political matters can now be punished. Society as a whole is set back by such rulings, and it is important for us to see this bigger picture and not be blinded by our disdain for Malema. Future judgements proscribing socially necessary speech will be based on this precedent."
Lyrics of the song sung by Malema during his birthday speech (transcribed and translated from the Times's online audio of Malema's birthday speech):
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ayeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot )
ayasab 'a magwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awu yoh
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyeah (oh mother)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot )
ayeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ayasab 'a magwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
iii yoh
dubula dubala (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ziyarapa lezinja (these dogs are raping)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ay iyeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ziyarapa lezinja (these dogs are raping)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ay iiiyo
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ay iyeah
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ay iyeah
Source: Mail & Guardian
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president sang the song at his 29th birthday celebrations in Limpopo this month, and again last week while addressing students at a rally at the University of Johannesburg.
The song lyrics include "dubul' ibhunu" (shoot the Boer), and "ziyareypa lezinja" (these dogs are raping). [Full lyrics below].
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe defended the song last weekend, saying: "Anyone who relegates this song to hate speech is part of those who are trying to erase our history. That would be unfortunate, as it is a struggle song that was used when we were still fighting for liberation. This song will not be erased from our history because of people who are sensitive."
The song echoes the slogan "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer", associated especially with late ANCYL president Peter Mokaba. On Monday this week, civil rights group AfriForum Youth laid a charge of hate speech against Malema at the Equality Court.
This was the same day on which the Equality Court found Malema guilty of hate speech for comments he made about Zuma's rape accuser. Addressing students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in January 2009, Malema said, "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money. In the morning that lady requested breakfast and taxi money"
The Mail & Guardian asked five high-profile experts on freedom of speech, constitutional law and both Afrikaner and black nationalism what they thought of Malema's recent bursts into song.
* Hermann Giliomee, historian and author of Afrikaners: Biography of a People, said the song was "dangerous and likely to incite some people".
* Pierre de Vos, constitutional law lecturer at the University of Cape Town, said songs like these were sung at a specific time "when an apartheid government needed to be overthrown. Because we are in a democracy, there is no need for those songs. If you follow human rights, Mr Mantashe's defence will not hold -- apartheid is no more."
Because of Malema's history and the insecurity of minority groups in the country, "some people are reacting to the person saying it", instead of what is being said, De Vos said.
* Melissa Moore, acting director of the Freedom of Expression Institute, said, "It is extremely worrying that the leaders of our country view this kind of speech as acceptable. This indicates a blatant disregard and disrespect for fundamental human rights and the well-being of South African society.
"Malema's statement amounts to hate speech, which is a form of speech that is not protected by the Constitution. Section 16(2) (c) of the Constitution prohibits the advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. The statement clearly incites harm to a specific group of people based on their race and ethnicity. Such speech should not be condoned and should not go unpunished."
* Zandi Radebe, spokesperson for Blackwash, a Black Consciousness youth social movement based in Soweto, said, "Malema's behaviour is predictable." Blackwash condemns any hate speech, regardless of who it comes from. "For me the issue is: Why do we continuously applaud the behaviour of people like Julius Malema? He makes the same noise and we give him the same reaction, I'm really tired of this."
* Jane Duncan, professor of journalism at Rhodes University, said, "Struggle songs help people to remember the spirit of resistance that led to South Africa's transition to democracy. For as long as South Africa remains untransformed on many levels of the social formation -- for instance, racism or economic inequalities remain -- these songs will continue to be sung, as people take courage from the spirit of resistance from the past to overcome the injustices of the present."
"The song as sung by Mokaba could not be considered hate speech, even when people sung it at Mokaba's funeral, and the Human Rights Commission [HRC] erred in making this judgement at the time. In order for speech to constitute incitement to cause harm, specific targets of that harm need to be identified. The song cannot be said to be directed at specific individuals, and in fact, the song is strongly metaphorical in that it refers to the system of apartheid being killed, so the specificity of speech that is necessary for something to constitute incitement to cause harm was absent.
"In addition, the HRC extended the definition of harm too far, to include psychological harm to 'minorities or vulnerable groups': forms of harm that are virtually impossible to prove as they are too subjective. If the song was not hate speech then, then it is doubtful that Malema's rendition of the song constituted hate speech either.
"The point is that these struggle songs will not go away, and banning them out of existence will merely reinforce their mystique, leading to greater determination to chant them.
"The tide is turning against Malema; every time he opens his mouth, it becomes clearer that he is not leadership material. He should be allowed the space to hang himself in public. The tendency of many social actors to cry 'hate speech' every time Malema says something outrageous may backfire against those with genuine grievances in the long run.
"The Equality Court's recent ruling against Malema's 'hate speech' underlines the problem. His statements were stupid and misogynistic, but the court's ruling has broadened the definition of hate speech so much that speech that is merely considered to be harmful can now be proscribed. This means that huge swathes of speech on political matters can now be punished. Society as a whole is set back by such rulings, and it is important for us to see this bigger picture and not be blinded by our disdain for Malema. Future judgements proscribing socially necessary speech will be based on this precedent."
Lyrics of the song sung by Malema during his birthday speech (transcribed and translated from the Times's online audio of Malema's birthday speech):
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ayeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot )
ayasab 'a magwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awu yoh
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyeah (oh mother)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot )
ayeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ayasab 'a magwala (the cowards are scared)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
iii yoh
dubula dubala (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
awe mama ndiyekele (mother leave me be)
awe mama iyo (oh mother)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ziyarapa lezinja (these dogs are raping)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ay iyeah
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ziyarapa lezinja (these dogs are raping)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
ay iiiyo
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Aw dubul'ibhunu (shoot the Boer)
dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ay iyeah
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ayasab' amagwala (the cowards are scared)
Dubula dubula (shoot shoot)
Ay iyeah
Source: Mail & Guardian
Monday, March 1, 2010
Malema defends 'his hero' Mokaba
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has accused a journalist of forging his signature in a bid to discredit him, although it is not clear whether he plans to press charges. The controversial Malema also defended his hero and former youth league leader, the late Peter Mokaba, who was described as a confessed apartheid agent by a newspaper columnist last week. Malema was speaking at an ANCYL rally in Durban, on the day that the City Press newspaper proclaimed him a liar on its front page.
The newspaper said it had proof that he did indeed hold shares in a company that had won lucrative contracts in his home province of Limpopo. It accused Malema of lying when he claimed at a press conference last week that he had never signed any papers to become a member of SGL Engineering Projects - a company of which he became a director and majority shareholder last May. The newspaper published extracts of a form apparently signed by Malema as a company director as proof that he remaineda director, despite his claims to the contrary.
It said company registration records it had seen last week showed that Malema owned 70 percent of SGL Engineering Projects and that, in addition to signing on as director, he signed in order giving power of attorney to his business partner. He had signed a third time to take up his majority shareholding, it said. But in his latest accusations that the media were out to smear him, Malema told the rally in Durban that the report was all lies. "A journalist decided to fake a signature of Julius Malema because they want to portray me as a bad person," he said during the rally in Lamontville. It could not be established whether the youth league leader had opened a case of fraud against the reporter in question.
ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu declined to comment. "Don't ever phone me at this time. I only work office hours," he said before cutting the call. Last night, City Press editor-in-chief Ferial Haffajee said she was shocked by Malema's claim and that the newspaper would consult lawyers. Haffajee said she had personally seen the documents and would stand by the reporters. Moreover, they had offered to send the documents to the youth league so that Malema's signatures could be verified, but this offer had not been taken up. "I will stand by the report. There is no reason for us to forge these documents. Throughout the week the youth league has hit out at newspapers and journalists, but not once have the gone to the ombudsman or the courts," she said.
Malema told the media last week that he had instructed his lawyers to remove him as director of four companies in May 2008 after he was elected ANC youth leader. He added that he had not received R140 million from government contracts.
The Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) confirmed last week that Malema remained listed as the director of four companies, including SGL Engineering Projects, which was registered in December 2009. It had not received any written notification that Malema had resigned his directorships as claimed.
Malema also defended Mokaba in his address yesterday, saying attempts to discredit his predecesor were aimed at demoralising the league. Author Jacob Dlamini, writing in Business Day last week, noted that the corruption in the league "did not begin with Malema". "The rot set in under Peter Mokaba, a confessed apartheid agent and a man as corrupt as they came. Mokaba drove a five-series BMW and owned at least one hair salon when many of his political contemporaries were still getting around by minibus taxi. "Mokaba helped set up a national tourism forum through which he and some ANC Youth League comrades, one of whom is now a deputy minister, fleeced the Taiwanese of millions of rands." But Malema told supporters that Mokaba had been portrayed as an apartheid spy because he represented change. "The media will never win because we (youth league members) are encouraged by the spirits of our forefathers," said Malema. He said the media had also tried to portray Zuma as a bad person.
Although no one has accused Malema of theft, but have questioned the practice of tenderpreneurs by highly placed politicians, the youth league leader nevertheless insisted that he had not stolen from the poor. "I have not stolen anything from the poor. If I have stolen from the poor President Jacob Zuma's government has a right to arrest me. I must be investigated, arrested and prosecuted. This attack on us is aimed at derailing the leadership of the youth... But the media will not succeed," he said.
Source: IoL
The newspaper said it had proof that he did indeed hold shares in a company that had won lucrative contracts in his home province of Limpopo. It accused Malema of lying when he claimed at a press conference last week that he had never signed any papers to become a member of SGL Engineering Projects - a company of which he became a director and majority shareholder last May. The newspaper published extracts of a form apparently signed by Malema as a company director as proof that he remaineda director, despite his claims to the contrary.
It said company registration records it had seen last week showed that Malema owned 70 percent of SGL Engineering Projects and that, in addition to signing on as director, he signed in order giving power of attorney to his business partner. He had signed a third time to take up his majority shareholding, it said. But in his latest accusations that the media were out to smear him, Malema told the rally in Durban that the report was all lies. "A journalist decided to fake a signature of Julius Malema because they want to portray me as a bad person," he said during the rally in Lamontville. It could not be established whether the youth league leader had opened a case of fraud against the reporter in question.
ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu declined to comment. "Don't ever phone me at this time. I only work office hours," he said before cutting the call. Last night, City Press editor-in-chief Ferial Haffajee said she was shocked by Malema's claim and that the newspaper would consult lawyers. Haffajee said she had personally seen the documents and would stand by the reporters. Moreover, they had offered to send the documents to the youth league so that Malema's signatures could be verified, but this offer had not been taken up. "I will stand by the report. There is no reason for us to forge these documents. Throughout the week the youth league has hit out at newspapers and journalists, but not once have the gone to the ombudsman or the courts," she said.
Malema told the media last week that he had instructed his lawyers to remove him as director of four companies in May 2008 after he was elected ANC youth leader. He added that he had not received R140 million from government contracts.
The Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) confirmed last week that Malema remained listed as the director of four companies, including SGL Engineering Projects, which was registered in December 2009. It had not received any written notification that Malema had resigned his directorships as claimed.
Malema also defended Mokaba in his address yesterday, saying attempts to discredit his predecesor were aimed at demoralising the league. Author Jacob Dlamini, writing in Business Day last week, noted that the corruption in the league "did not begin with Malema". "The rot set in under Peter Mokaba, a confessed apartheid agent and a man as corrupt as they came. Mokaba drove a five-series BMW and owned at least one hair salon when many of his political contemporaries were still getting around by minibus taxi. "Mokaba helped set up a national tourism forum through which he and some ANC Youth League comrades, one of whom is now a deputy minister, fleeced the Taiwanese of millions of rands." But Malema told supporters that Mokaba had been portrayed as an apartheid spy because he represented change. "The media will never win because we (youth league members) are encouraged by the spirits of our forefathers," said Malema. He said the media had also tried to portray Zuma as a bad person.
Although no one has accused Malema of theft, but have questioned the practice of tenderpreneurs by highly placed politicians, the youth league leader nevertheless insisted that he had not stolen from the poor. "I have not stolen anything from the poor. If I have stolen from the poor President Jacob Zuma's government has a right to arrest me. I must be investigated, arrested and prosecuted. This attack on us is aimed at derailing the leadership of the youth... But the media will not succeed," he said.
Source: IoL
Friday, October 9, 2009
Inside the Malema machine
As the Mail & Guardian arrives at Luthuli House at 3.40pm on Wednesday, late for an interview with ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, we are told to wait our turn to see “the president”. There is already a queue outside his office. The patient line -- ranged in groups in the outer office or wherever they can find a chair -- includes former ANC spin doctor Carl Niehaus and the newly elected South African Football Association president, Kirsten Nematandani, and his entourage. Then there is the Progressive Youth Alliance, a fundraising group for a Caster Semenya gala dinner and the leadership of the National African Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc).
The queue waits patiently, as petitioners at a royal court, for their turn inside Malema’s seventh-floor corner office with views over the city and an imposing portrait of Nelson Mandela on the wall facing the youth league president’s desk. After about 45 minutes Malema, wearing a golf shirt and jeans, pitches up and asks us to accompany him to his office. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, my chief. It has been a long day,” he says, smiling.
Malema’s cellphone keeps ringing throughout our interview as people try to secure a meeting with him. One of those who calls is the deputy minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, who is politely told by Malema to wait until he has worked his way through the queue outside. In some parts of society Malema is seen as the ANC’s in-house court jester and a buffoon, but a closer look reveals him to be the party’s crown prince, who wields influence and power while others just stand by and watch. He is the one people go to when official structures have failed them or have not delivered the results they wanted.
Although Malema holds no official government position and is only an ad hoc member of the ANC’s powerful national working committee (NWC), he knows that when he talks, everyone -- inside and outside the ANC -- listens. The primary source of his power is the fact that he was elected by a critical constituency for the ANC -- the youth.
A senior member of President Jacob Zuma’s inner circle describes Malema’s role thus. A year ago there was widespread concern in the party about voter apathy among the youth and how this would influence the ANC’s overwhelming majority at the ballot box. Concerns were rife that increasing unhappiness with bad service delivery was threatening the ANC’s authority and providing a breeding ground for anti-ANC sentiments. Then came Malema and, in one swoop, he captured the hearts and minds of these straying sheep with his frank comments and criticism. “He is the only voice who is willing to stand up and say: ‘This is how we feel and what we want.’ People understand the anger in what he is saying,” says writer Jabu Ngwenya, author of I Ain’t Yo’ Bitch, a recently published novel about the experience of young people in South Africa. “I admire him. He’s got the balls to stand up and speak his mind.”
ANC leaders have more questionable reasons for “supporting” him, claiming he holds some of them hostage. “Many people in the NEC have baggage. He knows about everyone’s baggage and they know he knows,” says one NEC member who is also a government official. Crucially, as a founding member of the campaign to elect Zuma as ANC president in 2007, Malema knows why certain leaders jumped on the Zuma campaign wagon. Says the NEC member, dryly: “He knows their reasons were not always noble and ... he’ll use that power when he thinks he needs to.”
A former Limpopo youth league member, who has now defected to the Congress of the People, puts things even more bluntly: Malema will use blackmail to get what he wants. “He gets to know a secret about a certain politician, especially about how they amassed wealth, and then he will use that against them when they differ.” As a measure of how seriously he is taken within party structures, the ANC even established a group of leaders to give him guidance, though privately some of them say he refuses to listen. “He receives correction, but it doesn’t really look like he’s changing the direction,” said one such mentor. “We have accepted that he is a problem child.”
Malema’s decision to close down Lembede Investments, the youth league’s investment arm that was fraught with allegations of corruption, gave the ANC hope that he would be a strong and responsible leader. But now the party leadership is “uncomfortable” about his behaviour and unsure of how to deal with it. As one NEC member who is also in business remarks: “Closing Lembede was a good sign that the youth league [would] be a beacon of moral credibility. But now it seems to be going the other way.” Under Malema the youth league campaigned vigorously for the sacking of Thabo Mbeki. There is some truth in the assertion that Malema is used to saying things the ANC is not able to say. A week before the ANC NEC took a decision to relieve Mbeki of his duties, Malema “predicted” that Mbeki would be fired as president. But a senior Luthuli House official told the M&G that Malema “was given information” and then went out in public and spread the word.
Malema himself has admitted to being a decoy during the 2009 elections to distract DA leader Helen Zille while “Zuma was sprinting to the Union Buildings”. Malema believes that as a youth leader he should be allowed latitude. “Maybe the problem is how we raise issues. But comrades should accept I can’t raise issues like ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe. I must put more fire on what I say so that people can feel the heat.”
Despite the fact that Malema evokes hate and derision from many South Africans, most ANC leaders see a bright future for him, even touting him as a possible contender for the ANC presidency some day. “There is no reason why he cannot be president one day, if nothing major goes wrong. He comes from the movement and knows a lot about the ANC,” says one.
Zizi Kodwa, Zuma’s spokesperson and former youth league leader, concurs: “What I’m sure of is that he will mature with age, like the vintage wine of the Cape. We expect him to grow over time and, in the ANC, such growth is appreciated and rewarded.”
One weekday in the late 1990s, as schoolchildren went about their classroom business, a lone teenage boy stood at the corner of Landros Mare Street and Hospital Road in Polokwane, holding up a placard, writes Mmanaledi Mataboge. He was protesting against the late delivery of stationery at schools, corporal punishment and “ineffective” school principals. Within minutes, he was joined by hundreds of schoolchildren. The boy was Julius Malema and his solitary protest, which gained such rapid momentum, signalled one of the ANC Youth League president’s precociously early steps on the road to crafting a career in politics.
The youth league’s secretary in Limpopo’s Capricorn region, Jacob Lebogo, grew up with Malema in Se-shego and was one of the classmates who joined Malema in his street-corner protest. He relishes retelling the story and remembers that many elders in the area were scandalised: “What is this child doing?” In hindsight the elders might rather have asked: “Who is this child?”
Malema (28), the firebrand youth leader often criticised for his controversial public statements, is a respected, even a feared, figure, within the ANC and its youth wing. Those who grew up with him or helped groom him into the leader that he is today describe him as a textbook product of the ANC, from a militant teenage hothead fired up in the dying days of the struggle against apartheid to the country’s most powerful youth leader. And, they say, he is still evolving. “He has become a different person from the boy I initially met,” says one of his close comrades, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, who started working with Malema when the youth leader was elected national president of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) in 2001. Back then few politicians, never mind anyone else, took him seriously. Says Mathale: “We had known him before, but we dismissed him as just another school kid. He still had the militancy of high-school politics. Just like all of us, his head was hot.”
Malema was raised in the ANC’s nursery from the age of 10 when he joined Masupatsela, a pioneer movement of the party, the young members of which were both lectured on democracy and tasked to act as enforcers of boycotts. Says Lebogo: “He did not jump any step of learning in the organisation. He was trained in mobilising people and in being a marshal. He collected and pushed tyres that were burned during stayaways.” Malema rose through the ranks to lead Cosas in the province and nationally and in 2003 he was elected provincial secretary of the youth league before ascending to the party presidency last year. Among those who groomed him were former youth leaders: the late Peter Mokaba, the late Frans Mohlala, and Mathale. The Limpopo premier sees nothing unusual in Malema’s behaviour. “We were all fearless. That’s why Oliver Tambo called us the young lions. You do not sugarcoat things; a stone is
a stone.”
Malema’s boyhood passion for politics saw him attending the funeral of Chris Hani, the late SACP general secretary, in 1993 in Johannesburg, when he was just 12. Says Lebogo: “He sneaked on to an [ANC supporters’] bus [in Seshego] and the only time they realised he was on a bus was when he was hungry and came out.”
Malema’s image as a bully who shoots off ill-informed bullets in public is a little more complicated: according to his comrades, he consults as a matter of course, but sometimes can’t resist blurting out what he had wanted to say all along. Mathale, one of Malema’s confidants, says Malema usually consults him on issues before raising them in formal meetings -- though his advice is not always heeded. “When I see it is wrong I’ll tell him not even to bother raising it because I will not support it. But because he is difficult sometimes, he will go ahead and put the matter on the table for discussion, and when he loses, he comes back and says ‘I should have listened to you’.”
In public Malema refuses to back off from some of his wilder statements, but in private he is capable of regret. He might call Mathale after an outburst and tell him: “I have said something I should not have said. Do not be surprised when you hear about it.” Still, Malema’s outbursts are not merely tolerated; several close commentators on Malema’s brand of politicking assume the tones of indulgent parents.
As one youth league NEC member who did not want to be named remarked that Malema should be allowed time to grow and make mistakes. “If you have a toddler who does not cause havoc in the house and break things, you should get worried. We all know that a child should explore.”
The advantage to the ANC of having a “fearless” youth leader such as Malema who can say what they think but would not themselves say publicly is broadly accepted. What shocks some sectors of the public -- Malema’s fury about the absence of black Africans in the economic cluster, for example -- can relieve ANC leaders of the responsibility of putting such issues on the table. “But,” says one source, “when we go to an NEC meeting they will say: ‘You’ve got it right.’”
Malema’s unedited honesty can also make itself felt much closer to home. “If you gossip, you’re in trouble,” says one youth wing NEC member. “He’ll expose you in a meeting.” Mathale believes Malema is still evolving into the mature leader many in the party believe he will become. “He can engage in any debate. That’s what makes him different from other young leaders ... and in five years the country will see a different Julius.”
Lebogo is equally confident about Malema’s future. “You don’t need to market Julius -- everybody knows him.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
The queue waits patiently, as petitioners at a royal court, for their turn inside Malema’s seventh-floor corner office with views over the city and an imposing portrait of Nelson Mandela on the wall facing the youth league president’s desk. After about 45 minutes Malema, wearing a golf shirt and jeans, pitches up and asks us to accompany him to his office. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, my chief. It has been a long day,” he says, smiling.
Malema’s cellphone keeps ringing throughout our interview as people try to secure a meeting with him. One of those who calls is the deputy minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, who is politely told by Malema to wait until he has worked his way through the queue outside. In some parts of society Malema is seen as the ANC’s in-house court jester and a buffoon, but a closer look reveals him to be the party’s crown prince, who wields influence and power while others just stand by and watch. He is the one people go to when official structures have failed them or have not delivered the results they wanted.
Although Malema holds no official government position and is only an ad hoc member of the ANC’s powerful national working committee (NWC), he knows that when he talks, everyone -- inside and outside the ANC -- listens. The primary source of his power is the fact that he was elected by a critical constituency for the ANC -- the youth.
A senior member of President Jacob Zuma’s inner circle describes Malema’s role thus. A year ago there was widespread concern in the party about voter apathy among the youth and how this would influence the ANC’s overwhelming majority at the ballot box. Concerns were rife that increasing unhappiness with bad service delivery was threatening the ANC’s authority and providing a breeding ground for anti-ANC sentiments. Then came Malema and, in one swoop, he captured the hearts and minds of these straying sheep with his frank comments and criticism. “He is the only voice who is willing to stand up and say: ‘This is how we feel and what we want.’ People understand the anger in what he is saying,” says writer Jabu Ngwenya, author of I Ain’t Yo’ Bitch, a recently published novel about the experience of young people in South Africa. “I admire him. He’s got the balls to stand up and speak his mind.”
ANC leaders have more questionable reasons for “supporting” him, claiming he holds some of them hostage. “Many people in the NEC have baggage. He knows about everyone’s baggage and they know he knows,” says one NEC member who is also a government official. Crucially, as a founding member of the campaign to elect Zuma as ANC president in 2007, Malema knows why certain leaders jumped on the Zuma campaign wagon. Says the NEC member, dryly: “He knows their reasons were not always noble and ... he’ll use that power when he thinks he needs to.”
A former Limpopo youth league member, who has now defected to the Congress of the People, puts things even more bluntly: Malema will use blackmail to get what he wants. “He gets to know a secret about a certain politician, especially about how they amassed wealth, and then he will use that against them when they differ.” As a measure of how seriously he is taken within party structures, the ANC even established a group of leaders to give him guidance, though privately some of them say he refuses to listen. “He receives correction, but it doesn’t really look like he’s changing the direction,” said one such mentor. “We have accepted that he is a problem child.”
Malema’s decision to close down Lembede Investments, the youth league’s investment arm that was fraught with allegations of corruption, gave the ANC hope that he would be a strong and responsible leader. But now the party leadership is “uncomfortable” about his behaviour and unsure of how to deal with it. As one NEC member who is also in business remarks: “Closing Lembede was a good sign that the youth league [would] be a beacon of moral credibility. But now it seems to be going the other way.” Under Malema the youth league campaigned vigorously for the sacking of Thabo Mbeki. There is some truth in the assertion that Malema is used to saying things the ANC is not able to say. A week before the ANC NEC took a decision to relieve Mbeki of his duties, Malema “predicted” that Mbeki would be fired as president. But a senior Luthuli House official told the M&G that Malema “was given information” and then went out in public and spread the word.
Malema himself has admitted to being a decoy during the 2009 elections to distract DA leader Helen Zille while “Zuma was sprinting to the Union Buildings”. Malema believes that as a youth leader he should be allowed latitude. “Maybe the problem is how we raise issues. But comrades should accept I can’t raise issues like ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe. I must put more fire on what I say so that people can feel the heat.”
Despite the fact that Malema evokes hate and derision from many South Africans, most ANC leaders see a bright future for him, even touting him as a possible contender for the ANC presidency some day. “There is no reason why he cannot be president one day, if nothing major goes wrong. He comes from the movement and knows a lot about the ANC,” says one.
Zizi Kodwa, Zuma’s spokesperson and former youth league leader, concurs: “What I’m sure of is that he will mature with age, like the vintage wine of the Cape. We expect him to grow over time and, in the ANC, such growth is appreciated and rewarded.”
One weekday in the late 1990s, as schoolchildren went about their classroom business, a lone teenage boy stood at the corner of Landros Mare Street and Hospital Road in Polokwane, holding up a placard, writes Mmanaledi Mataboge. He was protesting against the late delivery of stationery at schools, corporal punishment and “ineffective” school principals. Within minutes, he was joined by hundreds of schoolchildren. The boy was Julius Malema and his solitary protest, which gained such rapid momentum, signalled one of the ANC Youth League president’s precociously early steps on the road to crafting a career in politics.
The youth league’s secretary in Limpopo’s Capricorn region, Jacob Lebogo, grew up with Malema in Se-shego and was one of the classmates who joined Malema in his street-corner protest. He relishes retelling the story and remembers that many elders in the area were scandalised: “What is this child doing?” In hindsight the elders might rather have asked: “Who is this child?”
Malema (28), the firebrand youth leader often criticised for his controversial public statements, is a respected, even a feared, figure, within the ANC and its youth wing. Those who grew up with him or helped groom him into the leader that he is today describe him as a textbook product of the ANC, from a militant teenage hothead fired up in the dying days of the struggle against apartheid to the country’s most powerful youth leader. And, they say, he is still evolving. “He has become a different person from the boy I initially met,” says one of his close comrades, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, who started working with Malema when the youth leader was elected national president of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) in 2001. Back then few politicians, never mind anyone else, took him seriously. Says Mathale: “We had known him before, but we dismissed him as just another school kid. He still had the militancy of high-school politics. Just like all of us, his head was hot.”
Malema was raised in the ANC’s nursery from the age of 10 when he joined Masupatsela, a pioneer movement of the party, the young members of which were both lectured on democracy and tasked to act as enforcers of boycotts. Says Lebogo: “He did not jump any step of learning in the organisation. He was trained in mobilising people and in being a marshal. He collected and pushed tyres that were burned during stayaways.” Malema rose through the ranks to lead Cosas in the province and nationally and in 2003 he was elected provincial secretary of the youth league before ascending to the party presidency last year. Among those who groomed him were former youth leaders: the late Peter Mokaba, the late Frans Mohlala, and Mathale. The Limpopo premier sees nothing unusual in Malema’s behaviour. “We were all fearless. That’s why Oliver Tambo called us the young lions. You do not sugarcoat things; a stone is
a stone.”
Malema’s boyhood passion for politics saw him attending the funeral of Chris Hani, the late SACP general secretary, in 1993 in Johannesburg, when he was just 12. Says Lebogo: “He sneaked on to an [ANC supporters’] bus [in Seshego] and the only time they realised he was on a bus was when he was hungry and came out.”
Malema’s image as a bully who shoots off ill-informed bullets in public is a little more complicated: according to his comrades, he consults as a matter of course, but sometimes can’t resist blurting out what he had wanted to say all along. Mathale, one of Malema’s confidants, says Malema usually consults him on issues before raising them in formal meetings -- though his advice is not always heeded. “When I see it is wrong I’ll tell him not even to bother raising it because I will not support it. But because he is difficult sometimes, he will go ahead and put the matter on the table for discussion, and when he loses, he comes back and says ‘I should have listened to you’.”
In public Malema refuses to back off from some of his wilder statements, but in private he is capable of regret. He might call Mathale after an outburst and tell him: “I have said something I should not have said. Do not be surprised when you hear about it.” Still, Malema’s outbursts are not merely tolerated; several close commentators on Malema’s brand of politicking assume the tones of indulgent parents.
As one youth league NEC member who did not want to be named remarked that Malema should be allowed time to grow and make mistakes. “If you have a toddler who does not cause havoc in the house and break things, you should get worried. We all know that a child should explore.”
The advantage to the ANC of having a “fearless” youth leader such as Malema who can say what they think but would not themselves say publicly is broadly accepted. What shocks some sectors of the public -- Malema’s fury about the absence of black Africans in the economic cluster, for example -- can relieve ANC leaders of the responsibility of putting such issues on the table. “But,” says one source, “when we go to an NEC meeting they will say: ‘You’ve got it right.’”
Malema’s unedited honesty can also make itself felt much closer to home. “If you gossip, you’re in trouble,” says one youth wing NEC member. “He’ll expose you in a meeting.” Mathale believes Malema is still evolving into the mature leader many in the party believe he will become. “He can engage in any debate. That’s what makes him different from other young leaders ... and in five years the country will see a different Julius.”
Lebogo is equally confident about Malema’s future. “You don’t need to market Julius -- everybody knows him.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Lekota: revolutionary songs ANC policy
ANC national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota has defended his negative remarks about people singing freedom songs such as Umshini Wami, saying the issue was not about ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma, but about policy. Speaking to journalists at a media briefing on Wednesday, the defence minister said although he was talking to a specific audience when the remarks were made, the essence of what he said was relevant to everybody. "These liberation and freedom songs are not pop songs, which we sing for personal entertainment here and there. "These are instruments of revolution, cultivated since the inception of our movement," he said. They had been sung with a purpose, and been used to advance the ANC's policies, to announce them, and popularise them.
The songs had changed as policy positions had changed as the ANC went through its phases of struggle. This was why the ANC national executive committee (NEC) - following the conclusion of the negotiations at Codesa - had stepped in when Peter Mokaba continued using slogans such as "kill the boer, kill the farmer", which clearly flew in the face of policy.
The ANC had to look at what it was it wanted to say to the people, Lekota said. "We have a responsibility to unite the people of this country. We carry the responsibility to unite these people and to reconcile them, and to focus their attention on the task of national upliftment and a better life for the people. "Leaders of the ANC, therefore, cannot behave like anybody else on the street. I want to see the ANC work in the interests of the people of South.
Source: IoL
The songs had changed as policy positions had changed as the ANC went through its phases of struggle. This was why the ANC national executive committee (NEC) - following the conclusion of the negotiations at Codesa - had stepped in when Peter Mokaba continued using slogans such as "kill the boer, kill the farmer", which clearly flew in the face of policy.
The ANC had to look at what it was it wanted to say to the people, Lekota said. "We have a responsibility to unite the people of this country. We carry the responsibility to unite these people and to reconcile them, and to focus their attention on the task of national upliftment and a better life for the people. "Leaders of the ANC, therefore, cannot behave like anybody else on the street. I want to see the ANC work in the interests of the people of South.
Source: IoL
Friday, July 18, 2003
HRC says 'kill boer' slogan is hate speech
It's official. The slogan "kill the farmer, kill the boer" is hate speech, according to a finding of an appeal tribunal of the South African Human Rights Commission. Thursday's finding came after a complaint from the Freedom Front (FF) about the use of the slogan - and an appeal against an earlier commission finding that the phrase was not hate speech. "Even though we had to struggle for three years, we welcome the finding. Finally they came to the right conclusion," said FF leader Pieter Mulder.
Declaring the slogan to be hate speech was a first step in the right direction to stop farm killings, Mulder said. "The first finding had double standards because it meant racism was only wrong when it was by whites to blacks, but now we know that it is also wrong for blacks to be racist against whites," said Mulder.
The party lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg after African National Congress members used the slogan during two public meetings in June last year. One was at the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, and the other at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley. Earlier this year, the commission said the slogan did not constitute hate speech, but was an instance, although an undesirable one, of the right to freedom of expression. The Freedom Front appealed against the finding. "The slogan 'kill the farmer, kill the boer' as chanted at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley and at Mokaba's funeral is hate speech as defined in Section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution," said commissioner Karthy Govender.
He said freedom of expression was a fundamental right in democracy but by the same token South African courts were clear that the freedom of expression was not a supreme right as in the United States constitution. "We have concluded that the calling for the killing of a group of people is an advocacy of hatred, which must amount to harm," he said.
Simon Kimane, of the Freedom of Expression Institute, expressed disappointment with the finding. "There is no causal connection between the slogan and any actual killings of Afrikaners in this country," he said. He said the institution's submission had pleaded for the right of freedom of expression for the young South African democracy, and that the institution feared that the finding might set a bad precedent.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said "kill the farmer, kill the boer" was never an adopted slogan of his party. "The ANC will discourage people from using the slogan," he said.
Source: IoL
Declaring the slogan to be hate speech was a first step in the right direction to stop farm killings, Mulder said. "The first finding had double standards because it meant racism was only wrong when it was by whites to blacks, but now we know that it is also wrong for blacks to be racist against whites," said Mulder.
The party lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg after African National Congress members used the slogan during two public meetings in June last year. One was at the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, and the other at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley. Earlier this year, the commission said the slogan did not constitute hate speech, but was an instance, although an undesirable one, of the right to freedom of expression. The Freedom Front appealed against the finding. "The slogan 'kill the farmer, kill the boer' as chanted at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley and at Mokaba's funeral is hate speech as defined in Section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution," said commissioner Karthy Govender.
He said freedom of expression was a fundamental right in democracy but by the same token South African courts were clear that the freedom of expression was not a supreme right as in the United States constitution. "We have concluded that the calling for the killing of a group of people is an advocacy of hatred, which must amount to harm," he said.
Simon Kimane, of the Freedom of Expression Institute, expressed disappointment with the finding. "There is no causal connection between the slogan and any actual killings of Afrikaners in this country," he said. He said the institution's submission had pleaded for the right of freedom of expression for the young South African democracy, and that the institution feared that the finding might set a bad precedent.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said "kill the farmer, kill the boer" was never an adopted slogan of his party. "The ANC will discourage people from using the slogan," he said.
Source: IoL
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
'Kill the boer' comes back to haunt ANC
The Freedom Front (FF) on Sunday vowed to a lay a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission against the African National Congress after incidents of alleged hate speech at the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba on Saturday.
FF leader Pieter Mulder said in a statement if his party received no joy from the commission, then it would consider other legal options. Mulder accused the ANC's leadership of double standards when it came to condemning racism. He said while the crowd attending Mokaba's funeral on Saturday in Pietersburg chanted the slogan "Kill the farmer, kill the boer", a KwaZulu-Natal farmer and his wife were murdered.
Mulder said it was the responsibility of political leaders to educate their followers and to discipline them if their conduct promoted hate speech and racism. He said no funeral of a farmer had even been politicised. "What will be the reaction of ANC leaders if farmers start chanting 'Kill the Xhosas, Kill the black man' during the funerals of the Dent couple?" he asked.
If the SAHRC failed to condemn the slogan as hate speech, the Freedom Front would follow a legal path to get clarity on the issue. Mulder said the constitution was clear on its definition of hate speech. Clarity on what constituted hate speech was needed in view of the song by Mbongeni Ngema urging "valiant, strong, black men" to stand up to Indians, as well as Saturday's repetition of the "Kill the farmer, kill the boer" slogan. "It does not help that leaders talk about reconciliation, but do the opposite," said Mulder.
Source: IoL
FF leader Pieter Mulder said in a statement if his party received no joy from the commission, then it would consider other legal options. Mulder accused the ANC's leadership of double standards when it came to condemning racism. He said while the crowd attending Mokaba's funeral on Saturday in Pietersburg chanted the slogan "Kill the farmer, kill the boer", a KwaZulu-Natal farmer and his wife were murdered.
Mulder said it was the responsibility of political leaders to educate their followers and to discipline them if their conduct promoted hate speech and racism. He said no funeral of a farmer had even been politicised. "What will be the reaction of ANC leaders if farmers start chanting 'Kill the Xhosas, Kill the black man' during the funerals of the Dent couple?" he asked.
If the SAHRC failed to condemn the slogan as hate speech, the Freedom Front would follow a legal path to get clarity on the issue. Mulder said the constitution was clear on its definition of hate speech. Clarity on what constituted hate speech was needed in view of the song by Mbongeni Ngema urging "valiant, strong, black men" to stand up to Indians, as well as Saturday's repetition of the "Kill the farmer, kill the boer" slogan. "It does not help that leaders talk about reconciliation, but do the opposite," said Mulder.
Source: IoL
Thursday, June 20, 2002
Farmers hail Mbeki's 'kill the boer' stance
Orgainised agriculture has welcomed President Thabo Mbeki's public rejection of hate speech such as the controversial slogan, Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer which was chanted at the funeral of African National Congress MP Peter Mokaba. The president of Agri SA, Japie Grobler conveyed his appreciation to President Mbeki for the "clear leadership" he demonstrated in parliament in reaction to objections from farm leaders to the hate speech at Mokaba's funeral as well as ongoing farm murders.
"This gives a strong new dimension to the debate on farm safety and on the rights, value and dignity of farmers," he said.
"The acid test remains whether the necessary mandates and disciplining will ensue so that society can be rid of cancers such as Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer, as well as the lawlessness within which we are living," said Grobler.
He said it was necessary that rural communities "do some soul searching" regarding their own attitudes and choice of words in order to promote unity which is needed to restore a respect for life, property and law and order in the country.
Source: IoL
"This gives a strong new dimension to the debate on farm safety and on the rights, value and dignity of farmers," he said.
"The acid test remains whether the necessary mandates and disciplining will ensue so that society can be rid of cancers such as Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer, as well as the lawlessness within which we are living," said Grobler.
He said it was necessary that rural communities "do some soul searching" regarding their own attitudes and choice of words in order to promote unity which is needed to restore a respect for life, property and law and order in the country.
Source: IoL
Wednesday, June 19, 2002
Mbeki speaks out against 'kill boer' slogan
No one had the right to call for the killing of farmers or Boers, nor the right to threaten violence to advance their particular goals, President Thabo Mbeki told the National Assembly on Wednesday. "Those farmers and Boers are as much South African and African as I am, entitled to the same rights and privileges that are enjoyed by any other South African," he said in reply to debate on his budget vote.
Mbeki's comments followed the recent controversy surrounding the chanting of the "Kill the Farmer, Kill the Boer" slogan at ANC MP Peter Mokaba's funeral, and calls for the government to distance itself from this form of hate speech. Mbeki said nobody anywhere in South Africa had a right to call for the killing of any South African, whatever the race, ethnic origin, gender or health condition of the intended victim. Mbeki said he was proud that many farmers instead of isolating themselves were lending a hand to create a better life for all by being "proudly African".
The president - who has consistently ignored the leader of the Opposition, Tony Leon - again snubbed him by not replying to any of Leon's concerns raised during the budget vote debate on Wednesday. However, Mbeki did wish NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk well in his new responsibiity as Western Cape premier.
Source: IoL
Mbeki's comments followed the recent controversy surrounding the chanting of the "Kill the Farmer, Kill the Boer" slogan at ANC MP Peter Mokaba's funeral, and calls for the government to distance itself from this form of hate speech. Mbeki said nobody anywhere in South Africa had a right to call for the killing of any South African, whatever the race, ethnic origin, gender or health condition of the intended victim. Mbeki said he was proud that many farmers instead of isolating themselves were lending a hand to create a better life for all by being "proudly African".
The president - who has consistently ignored the leader of the Opposition, Tony Leon - again snubbed him by not replying to any of Leon's concerns raised during the budget vote debate on Wednesday. However, Mbeki did wish NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk well in his new responsibiity as Western Cape premier.
Source: IoL
Monday, June 17, 2002
Parties unite against Mokaba 'hate speech'
Three political parties have expressed concern and outrage about the use of the slogan "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" at the funeral of African National Congress MP Peter Mokaba. The Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (AEB) added its voice on Sunday night to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front (FF), objecting to the use of the slogan and condemning it as hate speech.
AEB leader Cassie Aucamp said his party would refer the use of the slogan to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). He said the slogan, which was made popular by Mokaba, had previously been referred to the commission for a decision on whether it was hate speech or not. At the time the commission found that it was not hate speech if seen against the political background of that era. Aucamp said the commission would have to answer the question if the slogan, seen in the current political context, was still not hate speech. He said what worried him even more was the fact that President Thabo Mbeki had been present at the funeral where the slogan was chanted and apparently did nothing to stop it. He said the AEB would also raise the subject in parliament during Mbeki's budget vote this week.
The FF also vowed to a lay a complaint with the SAHRC against the ANC. FF leader Pieter Mulder accused the ANC's leadership of double standards when it came to condemning racism.
In his reaction, DA leader Tony Leon sharply criticised the government's failure to react. Leon said farmers were being murdered at a terrible rate - last year alone more than 900 farms were attacked and 140 farmers murdered - and the government had done nothing to stop it.
Source: IoL
AEB leader Cassie Aucamp said his party would refer the use of the slogan to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). He said the slogan, which was made popular by Mokaba, had previously been referred to the commission for a decision on whether it was hate speech or not. At the time the commission found that it was not hate speech if seen against the political background of that era. Aucamp said the commission would have to answer the question if the slogan, seen in the current political context, was still not hate speech. He said what worried him even more was the fact that President Thabo Mbeki had been present at the funeral where the slogan was chanted and apparently did nothing to stop it. He said the AEB would also raise the subject in parliament during Mbeki's budget vote this week.
The FF also vowed to a lay a complaint with the SAHRC against the ANC. FF leader Pieter Mulder accused the ANC's leadership of double standards when it came to condemning racism.
In his reaction, DA leader Tony Leon sharply criticised the government's failure to react. Leon said farmers were being murdered at a terrible rate - last year alone more than 900 farms were attacked and 140 farmers murdered - and the government had done nothing to stop it.
Source: IoL
Monday, June 10, 2002
Aids dissident Peter Mokaba dies
Fiery senior African National Congress leader Peter Mokaba, who held controversial views on Aids, died at his home in Johannesburg on Sunday. ANC officials were not prepared to go on record on Sunday night and party spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama was not available for comment. "We want to express shock at the death of a young leader and we would like to express our condolences to the family," said Pan Africanist Congress leader Stanley Mogoba.
Mokaba will always be associated with controversy. "We believe he still had much to offer the country. I believe it is a loss to the country as well as to the Northern Province."
South African Communist Party spokesperson Mazibuko Jara also expressed shock. "We share our grief and pain with the family, the ANC and his friends," he said. "We will release a full statement after we have received a report from the ANC."
Mokaba was recently asked to desist from making public statements about Aids, as were scientists serving on President Thabo Mbeki's Aids advisory panel who held dissident views. Mokaba, an MP, denied that he was a dissident. He fell ill in 1999 and was given long leave from parliament. He fiercely rejected rumours at the time that he had Aids. When he attended the ANC national general council meeting in June 2000, he had noticeably lost weight. Turning his attention to the Aids debate, he made numerous statements emphasising that the virus had not been isolated and that antiretroviral drugs were toxic. He claimed the Americans and the French were fighting for markets to which they could sell antiretrovirals because they had struck an agreement in the 1980s that, if the virus was discovered by scientists, they would share the benefits of sales of drugs. He said in a recent interview that Aids drugs had no benefits beyond profits for firms. "I have fought apartheid and we won," he said. "We will fight this battle (against pharmaceutical companies), too. We can't allow ourselves to be turned into guinea pigs for these companies to play with our lives."
Mokaba hit out at Malegapuru Makgoba, head of the Medical Research Council, because he maintained that HIV caused Aids. Mokaba described him as a "low-grade politician" who was being used by anti-government forces. Despite his controversial views about the disease, Mokaba believed that the government was on the right course with its response to the pandemic. Mokaba had his strongest political support in Northern Province, the region in which he was born.
In March 1987, he founded the South African Youth Congress, Sayco, and was elected president at its launch. After the unbanning of the ANC, Sayco dissolved and the ANC Youth League was established. Mokaba served as ANC Youth League president from December 1991 to January 1994.
Mokaba will always be associated with controversy - and the phrase "Kill the boer, kill the farmer", which he coined when he was the youth league's president. He used the phrase when he addressed a commemorative rally for slain SACP leader Chris Hani at Khayelitsha near Cape Town on April 17 1993. At the time of his death, he was an ANC MP, a member of the ANC national executive committee and the chief electioneering strategist of the ruling party.
Source: IoL
Mokaba will always be associated with controversy. "We believe he still had much to offer the country. I believe it is a loss to the country as well as to the Northern Province."
South African Communist Party spokesperson Mazibuko Jara also expressed shock. "We share our grief and pain with the family, the ANC and his friends," he said. "We will release a full statement after we have received a report from the ANC."
Mokaba was recently asked to desist from making public statements about Aids, as were scientists serving on President Thabo Mbeki's Aids advisory panel who held dissident views. Mokaba, an MP, denied that he was a dissident. He fell ill in 1999 and was given long leave from parliament. He fiercely rejected rumours at the time that he had Aids. When he attended the ANC national general council meeting in June 2000, he had noticeably lost weight. Turning his attention to the Aids debate, he made numerous statements emphasising that the virus had not been isolated and that antiretroviral drugs were toxic. He claimed the Americans and the French were fighting for markets to which they could sell antiretrovirals because they had struck an agreement in the 1980s that, if the virus was discovered by scientists, they would share the benefits of sales of drugs. He said in a recent interview that Aids drugs had no benefits beyond profits for firms. "I have fought apartheid and we won," he said. "We will fight this battle (against pharmaceutical companies), too. We can't allow ourselves to be turned into guinea pigs for these companies to play with our lives."
Mokaba hit out at Malegapuru Makgoba, head of the Medical Research Council, because he maintained that HIV caused Aids. Mokaba described him as a "low-grade politician" who was being used by anti-government forces. Despite his controversial views about the disease, Mokaba believed that the government was on the right course with its response to the pandemic. Mokaba had his strongest political support in Northern Province, the region in which he was born.
In March 1987, he founded the South African Youth Congress, Sayco, and was elected president at its launch. After the unbanning of the ANC, Sayco dissolved and the ANC Youth League was established. Mokaba served as ANC Youth League president from December 1991 to January 1994.
Mokaba will always be associated with controversy - and the phrase "Kill the boer, kill the farmer", which he coined when he was the youth league's president. He used the phrase when he addressed a commemorative rally for slain SACP leader Chris Hani at Khayelitsha near Cape Town on April 17 1993. At the time of his death, he was an ANC MP, a member of the ANC national executive committee and the chief electioneering strategist of the ruling party.
Source: IoL
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