South Africa is a constitutional democracy. The supreme rule of law is an integral part of it and South Africans have to abide by it.
However, when the country’s highest court condones incitement to murder members of a minority group, those on the receiving end cannot and must not remain silent. Speaking up is their right in a constitutional democracy.
Earlier this week, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) said the song “Kill the Boer” is and always will be hate speech, and should under no circumstances be tolerated in a country plagued by racial tension.
It is certainly also important to consider how real a threat – in this case, a death threat – is perceived by someone before dismissing it as meaningless.
The white people of South Africa buried the Apartheid hatchet more than thirty years ago and reached out their hands to their fellow countrymen, hoping to build a prosperous country in the spirit of forgiveness.
The truth of the matter, though, is that the country’s economy has declined significantly, along with worsening unemployment and poverty, and the Constitutional Court has just confirmed that there is no forgiveness to speak of.
In the Freedom Front Plus’s view, the song will always amount to hate speech and the party will continue to raise awareness of the situation in South Africa among the international community.
For the sake of context – seeing as the main argument for the song “Kill the Boer” is that it has to be taken in context – one has to closely examine the entire song to truly grasp its tone and message.
This is the song. It has several phrases that repeat numerous times, so needless repetitions have been removed:
The cowards are scared
shoot shoot
the cowards are scared
shoot shoot
shoot the Boer
shoot shoot
shoot the Boer
oh mother
shoot the Boer
shoot shoot
shoot the Boer
these dogs are raping
shoot shoot
these dogs are raping
shoot shoot
shoot the Boer
the cowards are scared
shoot shoot
Surely no court in a country with racial tensions running high can allow one population group to be labelled as “dogs and rapists” with a call to shoot them.
Particularly when the racial tension has been caused by the policies implemented by the ruling party over the last thirty years.
The Freedom Front Plus, and hopefully all right-minded people in the country, will never allow the expression or condonation of incitement to violence and murder of any person or group, regardless of the “context”.
