NUMSA STATEMENT ON STRUGGLE SONGS
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is following the proceedings in the South Gauteng Court with an eagle eye on the matter between AfriForum and the ANCYL President Julius Malema.
We are of the view that liberation or struggle songs, especially the song ‘Dubula iBhunu' do not amount to hatred or incitement of racial violence, especially when sung today, post the formal Apartheid era. We think that the AfriForum case against the ANCYL President is mere cheap politicking and a strategy to re-invent the Afrikanerdom andan abuse of the democratic dispensation to derail our advances and gains.
We believe that there is deep hatred and irritation from some sections of the South African population against ANCYL President Julius Malema. Such individuals should not be allowed to attempt to erase our struggle history. The song "Dubula iBhunu", like any of our struggle songs against our abominable past should not be dragged into the hatred of Comrade Malema, by such individuals and organisations.
People should contest the ideological outlook of the ANCYL and, when doing so, should never be allowed to attempt to erase our collective memory of our heinous past by tempering with our struggle songs. And our struggle did not end in 1994. The struggle continues and our biggest enemy today is Capitalism. These songs continue to inspire the working class and the poor in their daily struggles against the barbaric and evil system of Capitalism.
The songs like ‘Uthisixolelekanjani, amaBhunu abulala uChris Hani', ‘uMshinWam', ‘Ilenja uBotha, kanye nalenja uMalan', are part of the living and collective memory of our struggle, part of the collective culture of that struggle, part of the soul and spirit of that struggle, and they continue to play an important mobilisation tool in the on-going workers and community struggles in South Africa today.
Those who are opposed to the songs should be reminded of the profound statement by the late President of the ANC Comrade Oliver Tambo when he said: ‘a country that forgets its history is doomed to repeat it'.
The AfriForum should remember that our people have accepted the ‘Die Stem' to be part of our national anthem in line with our commitments to unity and reconciliation. To millions of our people they accepted Die Stem in protest given the oppressive system and regime the Die Stem personified. We will not allow the likes of the AfriForum to insult the extreme generosity of our people by tempering with any aspect of the soul of our liberation struggle in the past, now, and in the future!
NUMSA calls on AfriForum and other negative like-minded organisations or disgruntled individuals not to attempt to re-write our history using the organs of class rule, the courts, in order to ban struggle songs. This is a dangerous racist and class route to take. We will not take this lying down.
The focus or the real issues that should preoccupy AfriForum and the country at large is the brutality that continues to be meted everyday against extremely exploited and oppressed Black and African workers in factories, farms, houses and everywhere where the working class are struggling to earn a living.
We at Numsa are very conscious of the continuing brutality and super exploitation of Black and African workers on white farms in this country, and, we remain committed to mobilising these workers by whatever democratic means available, including by linking their continuing struggles to the foundations of South African Capitalism: our racist apartheid past!
We call on the working class to defend the singing of ALL liberation or revolutionary songs in honour of Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Bram Fischer; Bayers Naude, Francis Baard and other countless revolutionaries in the galaxy of immortalised living ideas. No one should be allowed the power to temper with our history!
Statement issued by Irvin Jim, Numsa General Secretary, April 15 2011
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