EFF leader Julius Malema has told the Equality Court that AfriForum would have to “pay reparations first” before his party pays the R500,000 penalty sought by the interest group in its hate speech case against the red berets.  

Malema was under cross-examination for the second day on Thursday. AfriForum wants him, the EFF and its members gagged from continued singing of the “Dubul’ibunu/Shoot the Boer” song and to be forced to apologise.

Malema said the EFF would not apologise or stop singing the song and that AfriForum would have to pay reparations for apartheid and land dispossessions before expecting  his party to pay the penalty if they succeeded in the matter.

“They must pay reparations first, and then we can enter into that debate. You are asking money from people you stole from. You are the ones who owe us. You have eaten a lot from our land and minerals,” he said.

Malema said his party distanced itself from anyone who would attack farmers because of  “Dubul’ibunu/Shoot the Boer”. He said the song was not literal but directed at the current system that continued to marginalise black people.

“Anyone who engages in the killing of anyone because of my chant will not be influenced by my chant. That person would be driven by a criminal mentality. It is an act of crime because my chant is not a command,” he said.

AfriForum lawyer Mark Oppenheimer said farm attack survivors and farmers were traumatised by the song as it reminded them of violence that took place in farms, for which the organisation partly blames the song.

Malema said it was the black majority that was forced to live with trauma because of colonial and apartheid violence.

Oppenheimer argued that survivors of farm attacks who testified before the court were forced to relive it through the song.

“Their testimony is that chants like 'Kill the Boer' bring back those memories of real and recent trauma. And you take the position that does not matter, only your pain matters,” Oppenheimer said.

Malema lambasted Oppenheimer for comparing two farmers who were pained by the struggle song with that of the black majority whom he said had apartheid scars and were still expected to sing Die Stem as part of SA’s national anthem despite it being the former national anthem of the apartheid regime.

Oppenheimer accused Malema of lashing out at him personally and of branding him as a bad lawyer.

Malema replied: “You are a bad lawyer, shame. It goes without saying. You are a bad lawyer.”

After the hearing, Malema told his supporters outside court that he would not sing the song as he did not ask for permission from his lawyers. 

 EFF lawyer Mfesane Ka-Siboto will bring a language expert on Friday who will testify on the content of the song.