Johnathan Paoli
THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed an appeal by Afriforum against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)’s use of struggle song “Dubul’ ibhunu” (kill the boer).
The ruling confirms an earlier decision by the Equity Court which also found that the struggle song doesn’t constitute hate speech nor does it incite violence.
AfriForum initially laid charges against the EFF and party leader Julius Malema in 2020 at the Equity Court after party supporters sang the song outside the Senekal Magistrate’s court during a murder trial involving a Black farm worker who was killed by Brendin Horner, a white farm manager.
The court found that the song played a fundamental role in the country’s political history during the liberation struggle.
However the Afrikaner civil rights organisation disagreed with the court’s decision and said the ruling in favour of the EFF, further endangered both farmers and (white) Afrikaners.
AfriForum further noted with concern that acting Appellate Judge Raylene Keightley has failed to recuse herself, after expressing what the organisation called strong and biased opinions against the right-wing organisation in the past.
CEO Kallie Kriel said farmers and Afrikaners deserve the same protection against hate speech as any other professionals or cultural group and if the courts are not going to protect these groups from hate speech, they will have to take their safety into their own hands.
“AfriForum has already established more than 172 neighbourhood and farm watches countrywide. In light of this ruling, AfriForum will intensify its focus on the expenditure of a large and growing amount of its resources and time in improving and expanding our community safety networks by means of training and equipment,” Kriel said.
Kriel confirmed the organisation was currently in talks with its legal team over the possibility of appealing to the Constitutional court.
The EFF has welcomed the decision by SCA to dismiss an appeal by what it described as “the racist organisation of right-wingers called Afriforum”.
EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said the SCA rightfully dismissed the claims of AfriForum that the song is an incitement to violence against Dutch settlers.
“It is pleasing to the EFF that every once in a while, our courts are able to rise up against the dominant tide and affirm the humanity of the dispossessed majority in this country. We must also note that the archaic conduct of Afriforum and other racists organisations in this country will surely make peaceful coexistence between the native and the settlers an impossible mission to achieve,” Mathys said.
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