“Dubul’ ibhunu” or “Kill the boer” – free speech or hate speech? – 1
The sight of nearly 100,000 supporters and officials at the EFF’s 10th anniversary singing “Kill the boer” and led by Julius Malema was very sobering. His actions and the theatrical staging of the event invoke images of Hitler’s Nuremberg rally in 1933, immortalised by film director Leni Riefenstahl. Malema clearly intended the world to see it. Should the song be allowed to be an exercise in free speech, however, distasteful its subject? Or should it be hate speech and therefore subject to legal action? Three articles which were recently published in The Daily Friend exam the issue. The first is by journalist and columnist for the Daily Friend, Ivo Vegter.