PA leader Gayton McKenzie. File picture: Henk Kruger, African News Agency (ANA)
PATRIOTIC Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has slammed the singing of the Struggle song "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer", saying the song had to be banned as there was no place for it in the new South Africa.
The Struggle song is back in the public spotlight after EFF leader Julius Malema sang it with close to 100,000 supporters during the red berets’ 10-year anniversary celebrations at the FNB Stadium last month.
Opposition political parties, including the DA and the Freedom Front Plus, have slammed the singing of the song, saying it incited violence against white farmers. The DA said it would file a complaint with the UN, while the FF+ opened a case of incitement against Malema.
McKenzie, who was speaking to BizNews in a podcast, said he believed there was no place for the Struggle song in the new South Africa, as it could be misconstrued by "stupid people".
"The song is like the old apartheid flag; it had a meaning at the time. The flag jolted the Afrikaner people together, whatever the cause may have been.
“’Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’, I sang it myself growing up; it had a meaning. The word Boer meant the system of apartheid … We called the apartheid system the Boer system.
"I say we have no place today for that song for what we are trying to build in this country today. That song is wrong, that song should be banned, we have no time for that nonsensical song in our current South Africa.
“That song can be misconstrued by very stupid people,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie said he removed the support of the PA from a Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality coalition when Malema made a public statement that he wanted to “cut the throat of whiteness” in reference to then mayor Atholl Trollip.
Meanwhile, Malema previously said he would continue to sing "Kill the Boer" if he wished. Malema said the decision of the Equality Court, which dismissed a complaint that the song was hate speech, had to be respected.
The court ruled that the song was part of free speech, was allowed in the politically contested arena, and was not hate speech or incitement, after defeating the lobby group AfriForum in court.
"I won in court. The court said there is nothing wrong with singing Kiss/Kill the Boer," he said last month.
He urged those who differed to approach the courts.
Meanwhile, AfriForum, who have approached the Supreme Court of Appeals in a bid to overturn the Equality Court ruling, said Judge Edwin Molahlehi erred in finding the group had to prove that there was a causal link between the chanting of "Kill/Kiss the Boer" and the singing of “bizani ifire brigade” (Call the fire brigade), “shisa lamabhunu” (Burn these Boers) and the actual killing of the targeted group and the actual setting alight of farms and property, respectively.
Oral arguments on the matter are set to be heard on September 5.