COSATU NW and the song ‘Kill the farmer; Kill the boer'
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the NW is confirming that the song ‘Kill the farmer; Kill the boer' has got nothing to do with killing of white racist farmers who have been killing their own farm workers. AfriForum said nothing about farm workers who have been killed by white racist farmers in the NW. Nothing was said or condemned.
The former AWB, before he was killed, called our government a baboon government. Some few white racists in Sun City had a CD song calling our icon Madiba Mandela a ‘kaffir'. Our poor workers at Sun City continue to be called baboons and kaffirs. During the funeral of the late ET the same white people were waving the old SA flag and sang Die Stem and other racist songs. They even had placards saying that Malema must be killed. Why are they asking about Malema's security today?
AfriForum must be worried about the country, not about our revolutionary songs that brought us freedom and democracy that was in the hands of their forefathers who did not care about the African black workers and the masses of the poor people in the country.
Calling poor farm workers and the poor people baboons is the same as killing them; you remind them of what your racist forefathers did to them before 1994.
As much as they are worried about the song, they must be worried about African black farm workers who are killed by their own racist bosses. The number of attacks on white farmers? Compare it with the farm workers attacked and killed by white racist farmers since 1994. It is more than six times what it was presented to the court by one of the farmers.
The court must take all issues of our democratic processes into account, and our revolutionary songs during the apartheid when we destroyed some of the tendency that AfriForum want to bring back. That will not happen; our revolutionary songs will remain with us for live.
Statement issued by COSATU North West Provincial Secretary, Solly Phetoe, April 14 2011
Say No to banning of struggle song
The Congress of South African Trade Unions backs the call, by the National Union of Mineworkers and COSATU's North West Province, to urge AfriForum to drop their attempt to persuade the courts to ban the Dubul' Ibhunu song, and, if they persist, for the judge to reject their case.
It would be a grave mistake to try to ban the singing of struggle songs including this one. These songs are part of our national heritage. They do not constitute a call to take up arms against whites as a race group or as individuals, but against the system of oppression and apartheid.
Whether the lyrics of such struggle songs should be sung today is another debate, but banning them is not practical; people will still sing them nevertheless.
Statement issued by COSATU national spokesperson, April 15 2011
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