A high-court ban on the words "shoot the boer" was met with mixed reaction on Friday. While the African National Congress was shocked at the ruling and vowed to challenge it in the Constitutional Court, the Afrikanerbond and Freedom Front Plus welcomed it.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday that the Johannesburg High Court had ruled the use of the words "dubul' ibhunu [shoot the boer]" was unconstitutional and unlawful. Delmas businessman Willem Harmse had applied for an urgent interdict to prevent his colleague Mahomed Vawda from using the words on banners and singing them during a planned march against crime. While Harmse argued that the words perpetuated hate speech and incited hatred, Vawda contended that they referred to the symbolic killing of apartheid.
The ANC, which reportedly intends appealing against the judgement, expressed astonishment at the court's failure to approach it for input on the history and purpose of the struggle song Ayesaba Amagwala [The Cowards are Scared]. The song's lyrics include the words: "aw dubul' ibhunu [shoot the boer] 'a magwala [the cowards are scared] dubula dubula [shoot shoot]". The ANC believed that, had its input been sought, the court would have reached a different conclusion. Earlier this month, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe cautioned against "systematically erasing history", and said the interpretation of the song had been "vulgarised". "It's an old struggle song. Anybody who relegates it into hate speech today ... I will regard that as a serious attempt to erase our history. If you try to erase the history through courts, that would be unfortunate to the country."
Complaints have recently been laid against ANC Youth League president Julius Malema with the Equality Court and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over his repeated singing of the song in public. The Freedom Front Plus viewed the ANC's contention that the words be seen in the struggle context as "totally unacceptable". "Mr Malema was nine-years-old when [former president Nelson] Mandela was freed. He was never really part of the 'struggle'. If he sang the song today, it has to be judged in the context of 2010 and the fact that farmers are being killed weekly," the party said in a statement.
The Afrikanerbond now wants the SAHRC to decide whether the song constitutes incitement to violence and hate speech. Its chief secretary Jan Bosman said it hoped the ruling was "a first step in forcing politicians to think about pronouncements that create the potential for conflict".
Source: Mail & Guardian
Showing posts with label Afrikanerbond. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afrikanerbond. Show all posts
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
'Greed and cronyism erode our rights'
South Africans should honour the victims of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre by protecting everyone's human rights, deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Sunday. Motlanthe was speaking at the 50th commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre during which about 300 demonstrators marching against pass laws were shot at by apartheid police in the township. The shooting resulted in 69 of the demonstrators being killed, while at least 180 other people were wounded during the march.
Motlanthe said South Africans had a responsibility to protect the Constitution and to honour those who gave their lives in the fight for freedom. "In effect, this means as public representatives, at local, provincial and national levels, we should always remember the dead because we are their living delegates as they have relinquished their rights to participate in this freedom we enjoy," he said.
He said this alluded to the government's obligations and responsibilities to improve the socio-economic conditions of South Africans in honour of the departed who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. "To adequately commemorate the victims and survivors of the Sharpeville massacre and other bloodbaths, we must ensure the progressive realisation of the socio-economic rights as envisaged in the Bill of Rights. This means as government working with our social partners, we must strive to improve the quality of life of all our people by providing shelter, basic amenities, education, and security," he said. He also called on citizens to remain patient in the face of slow service delivery. "The freedom we enjoy today in South Africa means we must exercise our responsibilities diligently so that even those who are aggrieved by [the] slow pace of service delivery will not resort to burning public facilities, such as libraries and schools," Motlanthe said. "I believe freedom also obliges communities themselves to take ownership of protecting everyone's human rights and protecting the vulnerable members of our society," he said.
However, opposition parties and civil organisations said the ruling African National Congress was the main threat to human rights in the country. "Our constitutional rights are threatened by greed, cronyism, corruption and power abuse," said Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille. "Our right to live free from fear is threatened by hate speech that incites violence and the government's hired thugs who think they are above the law," she said.
Zille said these threats were not from outside forces and they had nothing to do with the legacy of the past. "They are recent threats to our human rights. And they come from the ruling party itself," she said.
The civil rights group Afrikanerbond said the government treated the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with contempt by not complying to its regulations. Its chief secretary, Jan Bosman, pointed out that South Africa's report on racism and discrimination was submitted five years late and its second report, which was due on January 9, has still not been submitted. "In our celebration of Human Rights Day, we are extremely concerned about the South African government's own commitment to human rights," he said. "It is becoming more and more a government that blindly approve or condone abuses against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by not acting against any abuse or breach," Bosman said.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader, Bantu Holomisa, said a radical economic transformation was needed to avert a "social explosion" that South Africa managed to avert with the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) in the 1990's. "The creation of our economic egalitarian society cannot be left to the vagaries of the market forces only that are inherent in current economic policy," he said. "It is only then that we will be in a position to talk of the realisation of human rights in South Africa... when everyone reaps the fruits of the economy," Holomisa said.
Source: IoL
Motlanthe said South Africans had a responsibility to protect the Constitution and to honour those who gave their lives in the fight for freedom. "In effect, this means as public representatives, at local, provincial and national levels, we should always remember the dead because we are their living delegates as they have relinquished their rights to participate in this freedom we enjoy," he said.
He said this alluded to the government's obligations and responsibilities to improve the socio-economic conditions of South Africans in honour of the departed who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. "To adequately commemorate the victims and survivors of the Sharpeville massacre and other bloodbaths, we must ensure the progressive realisation of the socio-economic rights as envisaged in the Bill of Rights. This means as government working with our social partners, we must strive to improve the quality of life of all our people by providing shelter, basic amenities, education, and security," he said. He also called on citizens to remain patient in the face of slow service delivery. "The freedom we enjoy today in South Africa means we must exercise our responsibilities diligently so that even those who are aggrieved by [the] slow pace of service delivery will not resort to burning public facilities, such as libraries and schools," Motlanthe said. "I believe freedom also obliges communities themselves to take ownership of protecting everyone's human rights and protecting the vulnerable members of our society," he said.
However, opposition parties and civil organisations said the ruling African National Congress was the main threat to human rights in the country. "Our constitutional rights are threatened by greed, cronyism, corruption and power abuse," said Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille. "Our right to live free from fear is threatened by hate speech that incites violence and the government's hired thugs who think they are above the law," she said.
Zille said these threats were not from outside forces and they had nothing to do with the legacy of the past. "They are recent threats to our human rights. And they come from the ruling party itself," she said.
The civil rights group Afrikanerbond said the government treated the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with contempt by not complying to its regulations. Its chief secretary, Jan Bosman, pointed out that South Africa's report on racism and discrimination was submitted five years late and its second report, which was due on January 9, has still not been submitted. "In our celebration of Human Rights Day, we are extremely concerned about the South African government's own commitment to human rights," he said. "It is becoming more and more a government that blindly approve or condone abuses against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by not acting against any abuse or breach," Bosman said.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader, Bantu Holomisa, said a radical economic transformation was needed to avert a "social explosion" that South Africa managed to avert with the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) in the 1990's. "The creation of our economic egalitarian society cannot be left to the vagaries of the market forces only that are inherent in current economic policy," he said. "It is only then that we will be in a position to talk of the realisation of human rights in South Africa... when everyone reaps the fruits of the economy," Holomisa said.
Source: IoL
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Malema under fire for 'kill the boer' song
ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema is facing a barrage of complaints to the police and chapter nine institutions over his latest racial outburst, after he led students in singing "kill the boer". Freedom Front Plus leader and Deputy Agriculture Minister Pieter Mulder will on Wednesday lodge a hate speech complaint against Malema at the Brooklyn police station, Pretoria.
Mulder said the use of the slogan was a contravention of section 16 of the Constitution. "Freedom of speech does not include the advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and which constitutes incitement to cause harm and has in any case been declared as hate speech by the courts."
Malema, according to the Sowetan, led students at the University of Johannesburg in a song saying: "Shoot the boere [farmers], they are rapists". He told students that former president Nelson Mandela had convinced blacks to forgive, but they should never forget what was done to them. AfriForum Youth national chairman Ernst Roets said the organisation would submit a complaint to the Equality Court in Johannesburg. Roets said it was not the first time Malema sang the song reminiscent of the late Peter Mokaba.
He sang it at his birthday celebrations in Polokwane last week, in a province where six farmers were murdered in the past month, Roets said. "Julius Malema has become the biggest embarrassment of not only the youth, but also of the country. "There is no way in which you can dismiss the song as something that simply has to be viewed in a political context and that doesn't have any real consequences," he said.
The Afrikanerbond lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). "It is clear that neither the ANCYL or the ANC have the political will or power to reign in Mr Malema and his daily tirades against everything we hold dear in South Africa," it said in a statement. "We trust that the Human Rights Commission will act in a manner which will restore our faith in this institution as well as in the promotion of human rights." In the complaint, Afrikanerbond chief secretary Jan Bosman said there were about 750 to 850 attacks on farms each year, adding that last year alone 120 people were murdered on farms. "Incitement to violence is a serious offence and with the current problem with rural safety we simply do not need a politician such as Mr Malema to exacerbate the problem," he said.
In 2007, the slogan "kill the farmer, kill the boer" was defined as hate speech by the commission. The FF Plus lodged a complaint with the SAHRC after ANC members used the slogan during two public meetings in 2006. Initially, 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. However, the party successfully appealed against the finding.
Theunis Botha, acting chair of the Christian Democratic Alliance, said Malema's comments could not be ignored and dismissed as a joke. "By the ANC not denouncing statements made by Malema, the joker has now effectively countered one of the rare occasions on which farm murders are condemned by the Minister of Police [Nathi Mthethwa]. "While the slaughtering of farmers continues, we are again back to square one as far as the government's attitude to these farm murders are concerned."
Mthethwa on Monday said farm murders should not be politicised. He said additional police and efficient tactics would be employed to mitigate farm and rural murders. "Surely, if Mthethwa calls on politicians not to make politics of farm murders, the same should apply to ANC office bearers, such as Malema. "By not banning Malema from the ANC, which is apparently, the only way to cut him to size, the country is done a great disservice," Botha said.
The ANC on Wednesday said it had not yet decided whether it would talk to Malema about his comments.
Source: IoL
Mulder said the use of the slogan was a contravention of section 16 of the Constitution. "Freedom of speech does not include the advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and which constitutes incitement to cause harm and has in any case been declared as hate speech by the courts."
Malema, according to the Sowetan, led students at the University of Johannesburg in a song saying: "Shoot the boere [farmers], they are rapists". He told students that former president Nelson Mandela had convinced blacks to forgive, but they should never forget what was done to them. AfriForum Youth national chairman Ernst Roets said the organisation would submit a complaint to the Equality Court in Johannesburg. Roets said it was not the first time Malema sang the song reminiscent of the late Peter Mokaba.
He sang it at his birthday celebrations in Polokwane last week, in a province where six farmers were murdered in the past month, Roets said. "Julius Malema has become the biggest embarrassment of not only the youth, but also of the country. "There is no way in which you can dismiss the song as something that simply has to be viewed in a political context and that doesn't have any real consequences," he said.
The Afrikanerbond lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). "It is clear that neither the ANCYL or the ANC have the political will or power to reign in Mr Malema and his daily tirades against everything we hold dear in South Africa," it said in a statement. "We trust that the Human Rights Commission will act in a manner which will restore our faith in this institution as well as in the promotion of human rights." In the complaint, Afrikanerbond chief secretary Jan Bosman said there were about 750 to 850 attacks on farms each year, adding that last year alone 120 people were murdered on farms. "Incitement to violence is a serious offence and with the current problem with rural safety we simply do not need a politician such as Mr Malema to exacerbate the problem," he said.
In 2007, the slogan "kill the farmer, kill the boer" was defined as hate speech by the commission. The FF Plus lodged a complaint with the SAHRC after ANC members used the slogan during two public meetings in 2006. Initially, 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. However, the party successfully appealed against the finding.
Theunis Botha, acting chair of the Christian Democratic Alliance, said Malema's comments could not be ignored and dismissed as a joke. "By the ANC not denouncing statements made by Malema, the joker has now effectively countered one of the rare occasions on which farm murders are condemned by the Minister of Police [Nathi Mthethwa]. "While the slaughtering of farmers continues, we are again back to square one as far as the government's attitude to these farm murders are concerned."
Mthethwa on Monday said farm murders should not be politicised. He said additional police and efficient tactics would be employed to mitigate farm and rural murders. "Surely, if Mthethwa calls on politicians not to make politics of farm murders, the same should apply to ANC office bearers, such as Malema. "By not banning Malema from the ANC, which is apparently, the only way to cut him to size, the country is done a great disservice," Botha said.
The ANC on Wednesday said it had not yet decided whether it would talk to Malema about his comments.
Source: IoL
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