Malema vows that the EFF will protect Struggle songs

... he explains the meaning of ‘Kiss the Boer, Kiss the Farmer’

EFF LEADER Julius Malema has vowed that his party will continue to defend Struggle songs.

Addressing party supporters outside the Equality Court sitting in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, Malema said: “We are here to defend the Struggle and revolutionary songs because it has never been about hatred.”

Earlier, he had also said that Struggle songs represent a particular course against the apartheid system and to declare them as hate speech meant that the Struggle endured by many during the apartheid-era was futile.

Inside the court – in a litigation lodged against him by Afriforum – Malema denied that he had previously sung “Kill the Boer”, and instead maintained he had sung “Kiss the Boer”.

Afriforum argued in its court application that “Kiss the Boer” was just another way of encouraging people to continue killing white farmers.

According to their papers, it was just an exchange of words that meant the same thing.

But Malema refuted this notion, adding that his continued chanting of “Kiss the Boer, Kiss the Farmer”, saying “this was to provoke white racists who still believe that it was immoral for black people to kiss white people.

“There are still people in a democracy who still believe that it is wrong for black and white to kiss each other. That chant is aimed at those white supremacists,” Malema said.

However, Afriforum indicated that it firmly believed the singing of the song had led to a growing number of farm murders.

It has since called a number of witnesses, including some of the victims of farm murders, to support their case in court.

In his defence, Malema was adamant that the expropriation of land without any compensation was aimed at the benefit of everyone, including white females who were allegedly excluded from the economy.

He, however, denied that he sang the original song (Kill the Boer) in Senekal.

Despite his explanation of the new version of the song, Malema defended the crowds of people who sang the original song during the second appearance of a murder-accused a day after a group of white protesters overturned a police Nyala and threatened to attack the police.

They then stormed into the Senekal Magistrate’s Court and demanded that the authorities hand over the accused to them instead of following normal prosecutorial processes.

“I can’t say they were EFF members. To be a member you have to have a member card and pay R10 for it. But what happened in Senekal was that the community was angry that those people attacked the police and stormed the local magistrate’s court.

“So the community went there to protect state institutions. There is calm in Senekal. Those white people never went back to the police and court again after that march,” Malema said.

His testimony also included a session where Malema exchanged ideologies over the policies on which the EFF was founded on, including the emancipation of the masses from poverty.

He said his party would ensure that the wealth and land accumulated by the rich as well as all the resources at their disposal are distributed equally with poor South Africans.

His testimony continued on Thursday.