South Africa's Malema vows to keep chanting controversial song
South Africa's Malema vows to keep chanting controversial song (Photo: AP)
South Africa's firebrand opposition leader on Saturday vowed to keep using controversial chants that featured in a contentious White House meeting between the US and South African presidents.
During talks in Washington on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump ambushed his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa by showing a four-minute-long video in support of his claims of a "white genocide" in the country that overcame decades of apartheid.
Julius Malema, a 44-year-old opposition politician, was the main character in the video, seen in several clips wearing the red beret of his populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and chanting calls to "cut the throat of whiteness" as well as a controversial anti-apartheid song "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer".
The decades-old "Kill the Boer" rallying cry was born during the struggle against the brutal policies of white-minority rule, and its use since the end of apartheid in 1994 infuriates parties that represent white South Africans, with many attempting to get it banned.
A ban in 2010 was lifted after courts said it does not constitute hate speech and instead should be regarded in its historical context, and for the fact that it was being used by Malema only as a "provocative means of advancing his party's political agenda".
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Speaking at a regional election on Saturday, Malema said the controversial lyrics were "the heritage of our struggle" and vowed to keep on using them.
"It is not my song. I did not compose this song," Malema said in televised comments. "The struggle heroes composed this song. All I am doing it to defend the legacy of our struggle."
"Therefore I will never stop singing" the song, he said. "That will be a betrayal to the struggle of our people."
Malema, 44, is an opposition politician, leader of the anti-capitalist and anti-US EFF that he founded in 2013 after being thrown out of the youth league of the ruling African National Congress, where he was accused of fomenting divisions.
He portrays himself as the defender of society's most disadvantaged and has attracted largely young supporters angry at the large social inequalities that exist in South Africa 30 years after the end of apartheid.
In the tense Oval Office meeting, Ramaphosa and his delegation distanced themselves from Malema's rhetoric.
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Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like If You Eat Ginger Everyday for 1 Month This is What Happens Tips and Tricks One of those buyers was He Tianying, who is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, according to government documents in China examined by The New York Times. 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