Malema denies being a racist
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema denied being a racist when he took the stand on a hate speech charge in the Equality Court on Wednesday. He belonged to an organisation that subscribed to non-racialism, Malema said.
Afrikaner interest group AfriForum has taken Malema to court, contending that his singing of the struggle song "awudubhule ibhunu", or "shoot the boer", constitutes hate speech.
"It's not Julius's song, I'm not Brenda Fassie," he told the court.
He had been inspired by revolutionary leaders to sing the song, he said.
He also testified that the word "ibhunu" referred to the oppressors and nothing else.
After recounting a number of stories, Malema was warned by Judge Collin Lamont not to make the court a platform for political issues.
"You are not entitled to come and make a political speech," Lamont told him.
However, immediately before cross-examination, Malema told AfriForum counsel Martin Brassey: "You brought this political matter to court, I will answer in a political way."
In previous testimony, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told the court that the ANC was not protecting Malema.
Mantashe also told the court that although Malema was the president of the ANC Youth League, he was disciplined when needed.
"Everybody in the ANC gets disciplined... if you step out of line," he said in response to questions by Roelof du Plessis, who is counsel for the farmers' organisation TAU-SA.
Mantashe said Malema, through his controversial statements, was merely trying to help the ANC back into power in the Western Cape.
Mantashe told the court that "Malemaphobia" had hit many Afrikaner organisations.
He said he had coined the term "Malemaphobia" after the ANC established an outreach programme for Afrikaners.
Through interaction with Afrikaners when visiting farms, Mantashe said he noted that most of them had an "irritation by Malema".
Brassey said "Malemaphobia" may have resulted from Malema being a controversial figure, who embodied a particular set of ideas.
He said Afrikaners had a keen sense of what it was to be oppressed and that AfriForum had no desire to burn songs or trample on history.
"Whites become frightened because they are the minority," he said, citing examples of placards held by supporters outside court reading: "F the Boers, I hate them with a passion".
Mantashe said he refused to believe, as suggested by Brassey, that people were so ignorant of the struggle as to not know what was happening around them.
The intention of the song was to inspire and mobilise people. The song did not belong to Malema, but to the movement.
Mantashe said liberation songs had no copyright, and because of this any other liberation movement, such as the Pan Africanist Congress, could sing it too.
gigolo
ET said on national TV that he was not racist but he liked his own, I wonder what that means heyReport Abuse
tpaz
i'm not racist....it is just that I don't like whites..... and police. people who oppress other peopleReport Abuse
serutle
boer will never likes black peple, lemakatswa ke eng ge ba ile courtReport Abuse
klady
he is not racist ,,,,let him do what he sing the songs ...guys it is just a song.SING THE SONG MY BROTHER WE ARE BEHIND YOU 100% they are still treating us bad...and they wont stop i dont know the black people that are supporting Zille...some people dont grow and they dont think....ag manReport Abuse
DJWinner
I do have a feeling that Malema does not need a lawyer. I was watching the case on E News, the way he talks there, he talks like a lawyer. I think he can represent himself.Report Abuse
tsayaya
"It's not Julius's song, I'm not Brenda Fassie," he told the court.that's JuJu Boy for me, hahahahaha!
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Livelifemolefe
This issue make me stand astride.Mandela was about to suceed in turning the stereotype whites to form one nation.
Matter like this can only break what mandela worked for.
Malema should be showing brevary by standing for tertiary students who do not have anyone to help in times of need, toyitoying alone at times for fees.
AFR-FORUM think because they forced the government through court to cede some of the Zimbabwe infrastructure to the white Zimbabweans, hope the same could happen here.
They do not like my people at all, go to the farms. But not all of the, e.g Dirck Hannekom is Boer but is on our side.
So this issue makes me stand astride....
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BroDoItRight
Exactly what was Mantashe saying? He seems to be happy blur-blurring incoherently just to be on the centre stage. Malema-phobia, what the heck is that? Malema is proud of his history and will stay defiant to those who threaten to throw it to the dogs, so are a lot of us! He is a leader and obviously his terms of reference are to lead, what's all the noise about! The Afrikaners helped write this history, are they regretting it? We are not ashamed to remind ourselves of the treatment we endured in our motherland from their hateful, spiteful and in-humane treatment. Shutting up and going with the flow would the best way for them, otherwise they will cause more harm than they did in the past!Report Abuse
Jackee
kladyPlease clarify for me. Under what scenario would there be need to sing this song?
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