The Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO) has welcomed the Equality Court ruling that singing Kill the Boer is not hate speech, saying it has nothing to do with farm murders. The Court dismissed, with costs, AfriForum’s complaint against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and its president, Julius Malema and their singing Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer.
AfriForum lodged its complaint in October 2020 after EFF supporters sang Dubul’ ibhunu! (Kill the Boer) outside Senekal magistrate’s court. The group argued that it encouraged violence against the South African White population.
The popular struggle song originated in the struggle against apartheid. It was initially sung in protest against the Afrikaner-dominated regime, but has been used repeatedly by the likes of former President Jacob Zuma and EFF leader Julius Malema.
Previously, in 2011, the South Gauteng High Court ruled that the song was discriminatory, harmful, undermined the dignity of Afrikaners, and thereby constituted hate speech. However, the Equality Court on Thursday (August 25) ruled differently.
“It is a wonderful ruling by the court. We feel vindicated because this was about the heritage of our people. That is what was being put on trial and we are glad that the courts were able to rule against this unnecessary flexing of power in the courts by AfriForum,” said Kekeletso Khena, Deputy President of AZAPO in the Free State.
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Kill the Boer and farm murders
According to Khena, any association of the struggle song with farm murders meant “flexing unnecessary muscles.”
She said despite the prevalence of brutal murders in rural areas, singing Kill the Boer had nothing to do with the issue. Instead, she suggested, farm murders fall within the broader scourge of crime in the country.
“There has been no causal link between the song and the farm murders. We are not at all
diminishing the idea that South Africa is a country that is riddled with crime – people are dying, people in townships are dying, people in farms are dying, people, in the suburbs are dying,” she said.
“It is very critical for people to understand that when we say Kill the Boer we are not talking about individuals. We are talking about a system that is oppressive to our people [and] a system that was oppressive for the last 300 years,” said Khena.
Khena said the song meant to send a message to dismantle an oppressive system that existed beyond the apartheid era. She said to be offended by it meant complicity in the system.
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Equality Court ruling
On Thursday, the Equality Court ruled that singing Kill the Boer did not constitute hate speech. Judge Edwin Molahlehi found AfriForum failed to make a case “that the lyrics in the impugned song constitutes hate speech as envisaged in section 10 (1) and 7 (a) of the Equality Act”.
Malema previously testified that the freedom songs “should not be interpreted literally, but within the context of the struggle and the political message that it sought to agitate”. In contrast, lobby group AfriForum argued that it propagated harm.
Since the dawn of democracy, Malema maintained, the song was directed to the issues of land justice and “in this respect more highlighting the failures of the current government”.
Meanwhile, AfriForum said it would appeal the ruling. The group reiterated its standpoint that the song encouraged murder.
“This ruling creates a very dangerous precedent. The disturbing message sent with this judgment is that encouraging the gruesome murder of a certain group based on their identity is acceptable and carries no consequences,” argues Ernst Roets, head of policy and action at AfriForum.
