Julius Malema sparks outrage for ‘Kill the Boer’ song at University of Pretoria

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema is under fire again for singing the controversial Kill the Boer song at the University of Pretoria (UP).

During a gathering of the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) on Friday evening, Malema belted out the controversial song, adding new lyrics to the chant saying, “these rapists are dogs”.

At the same meeting, Malema called for the name change of the South African national rugby team and the omission of Die Stem in the national anthem.

“We are the only people who take white people on,” Malema told the students.

Malema divides UP students

A spokesperson for the civil rights organisation AfriForum, Yvonne Gerber, told The Citizen that several students had laid complaints to the university about the EFF gathering.

Gerber said Malema was a divisive figure among students at UP.

“There is a difference between hate speech and freedom of speech. What happened on Friday is definitely hate speech,” she said.

ALSO READ: SCA dismisses AfriForum’s appeal against ‘kill the boer’ song

Gerber said the singing of Kill the Boer sparked racial tensions between some black and white students on campus.

“Julius came to bring division on campus, he is known for instigating racial hate against a certain group. Students were put at risk because of that gathering,” Gerber said.

She said AfriForum Youth would consider having Malema barred from visiting the university again.

“We are still discussing this,” she added.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel told The Citizen on Monday that the organisation was waiting for a date at the Constitutional Court where the legality of the song will be tested.

This is a second attempt at trying to declare the words of the song Kill the Boer as hate speech.

AfriForum previously lost its first attempt at the Equality Court.

“We will wait for the ConCourt processes, but this is definitely hate speech, its distasteful to call for the killing of anyone in a country with a lot of violence,” he said.

Kriel too described Malema as a divisive politician.

“People should unite and take a stance against polarising behaviour,” he said.

Leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) Pieter Groenewald in a statement on Sunday called for the UP to act against the EFFSC.

He accused the EFFSC of bringing chaos to the university.

“This incident proves that it [the EFF] cannot be trusted and that it should be permanently deregistered and banned from campus. Incidents such as these do nothing to create cohesion among students,” he said.

WATCH: Malema sings ‘Kill the Boer’ at UP

In a response to The Citizen‘s questions on Monday, EFF spokesperson Leanne Matthys described the song as revolutionary.

“What a surprise that white supremacists are again touched by a revolutionary song,” she said.

UP’s political battleground

On the other hand, Piet Croucamp, a political analyst at the Business School at North-West University said Malema might have intentionally sang the song at the University of Pretoria to make a statement against white domination and imperialism.

“The university is a historically white institution and represents a specific historical context. If you want to choose a site where you sing something such as that, you probably won’t find a place that will be more controversial and part of the debate than that,” he said.

In a statement, the University of Pretoria said it “strongly condemns any form of incitement to violence, discrimination or provocation” on its campuses.  

NOW READ: ‘Kill the Boer’ backlash: A song is not killing SA, analyst says