South Africa / Violence against Whites

Shoot the Boer: "That's How a Genocide Can Start"
The Mail & Guardian, September 12, 2011
"A South African court on Monday ruled that ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was guilty of hate speech for singing an apartheid-era song that advocated the killing the white farmers. 'I find the words uttered by Malema constitute hate speech,' said Judge Collin Lamont. Malema was ordered to pay court costs in the civil case that did not carry a criminal penalty. The verdict against Malema, a vocal proponent for the nationalisation of mines, comes as he is fighting for his political survival in a separate disciplinary case brought by the African National Congress, which has charged him with bringing the party into disrepute. The 30-year-old Malema, who is seen as a future leader of the ANC, was not present in court. The case was brought to the South Gauteng High Court by the Afrikaner civil rights group AfriForum Youth, which claimed white farmers felt vulnerable because of the song 'dubul' ibhunu', ('shoot the boer'). In his judgment, Lamont said words were powerful weapons that could lead to disastrous actions and even genocide. 'The words of one person inciting others ... that's how a genocide can start,' he said in his judgment. Lamont said in determining the outcome of the case the court had to analyse the meaning of the words in the song and its effect on society. He said single words and a group of words had 'elastic meanings'. The words Malema sang had not been forgotten as they were derogatory and hurtful. He said the response of the public was relevant to analyse the entirety of its context. Genocide was defined as 'the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, religious, or national group'. [...]"