AP
Malema
Omphitlhetse Mooki and Baldwin Ndaba
EXPELLED ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and his ANC counterparts formed a united front yesterday, vowing never again to sing derogatory Struggle songs targeting white people.
Last night, Malema confirmed to The Mercury’s sister paper, The Star, that he was party to an out-of-court settlement between the ANC and AfriForum that compelled both parties to recognise and respect each other.
The settlement was made an order of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein yesterday .
This followed AFriForum’s having obtained an order from the Joburg High Court against Malema in September last year that barred him from singing Struggle song Dubul’ iBhunu (Shoot the Boer) in public and at private functions. In delivering this judgment, Judge Colin Lamont ruled that the singing of the song constituted hate speech.
Malema turned to the SCA, in which he argued the judgment had the potential to stifle the ANC’s struggle and cultural heritage. The application was due to be heard by the appeal court yesterday, but Malema, the ANC and AfriForum reached an out-of-court settlement.
The parties agreed that, “In the interests of promoting reconciliation, and to avoid community friction, and recognising that the lyrics of certain songs are often inspired by circumstances of a particular historical period of struggle, which in certain circumstances may no longer be applicable, the ANC and Malema commit to counselling and encouraging their respective leadership and supporters to act with restraint to avoid the experience of such hurt”.
Malema confirmed the contents of the agreement.
“I was part of the mediation process,” he said yesterday.
“Yes, I am party to [the agreement], and I will continue to practise my culture and my heritage, and I will continue to be sensitive to the needs of other communities.”
Malema said the settlement was in line with what he and the ANC Youth League had been advocating all along.
“If you go to the tapes of the court hearing and check what we are signing for today, there is no difference,” he said.
“We said that there is no need to ban the song – the need is education. We need to educate our people about our culture in relation to our Struggle.
“But also we need to educate our people of being sensitive, so that they do not offend other people or communities.”
The ANC concurred with Malema.
“There are many songs we have that we have remixed… like the one we sing at cemeteries [Hamba Kahle Mkhonto],” said ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu.
“Anything that may refer to the killing of people [in Dubul’ iBhunu] we might replace. It would not be the first time we do this.”
