EFF statement on the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals to dismiss AfriForum’s appeal on the dubula Ibhunu song

28 May 2024

The EFF is pleased with the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) to dismiss an appeal by the racist organisation of right-wingers called Afriforum. Afriforum had launched an appeal to the SCA against the decision of the Equality Court which dismissed their application against the EFF, the President Julius Malema, and Commissar Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

The racist organisation had argued at the Equality Court that the President and Dr Ndlozi had committed hate speech for singing a well-known and revered struggle song, "dubula ibhunu,” or "kill the boer, kill the farmer" , and therefore sought an order of court interdicting the EFF, the President, and Dr Ndlozi from ever singing this revered struggle song again.

The Equality Court dismissed this application and cited the historical context from which the song evolved. Of the song, the Equality Court reasoned that the song must be understood from:

"The political and cultural context it has traversed time in the history of South African politics and projects the political vision of [the] EFF in a new dimension of a strategy of achieving radical economic transformation of the society. It is in the current political situation a song directed at articulating the failure of the current government in addressing the issues of economic power, land reform and distribution. If anything, this calls for a generous delineation of the bounds of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.

The Equality Court rightfully dismissed that application and protected the rights of the oppressed to air their views on the situation of the colonial present in the country.

In this new judgement, the SCA also dismissed the outrageous claims by Afriforum that the singing of 'dubul' ibhunu' is an incitement to violence against Dutch settlers. It is also noteworthy that the Free-Market Foundation joined Afriforum in the appeal as a ‘friend of the court' and supported the banning of this historical song.

The SCA reasoned that the historical context of dispossession and racial oppression, and the current commitment to constitutional values must always be read in the context of the preamble of the constitution, which acknowledges the pain of colonialism and apartheid. In this regard, attempts to erase the history of the pain and suffering of black people are anathematic to the values of the Constitution.

What Afriforum, the Free Market Foundation, and other later day colour blind organisations seek to do, therefore, is to commit the crime of erasure against the historical process of dispossession, dehumanisation, economic exclusion, and exploitation of black people by a tiny minority of Dutch and British settlers in this country. They are not content with still benefiting from the undue benefits they continue to receive from our colonial and apartheid legacy, they now want to dictate how the oppressed and exploited majority ought to react to this oppression and exploitation.

It is pleasing to the EFF that every once in a while, our courts are able to rise up against the dominant tide and affirm the humanity of the dispossessed majority in this country. We must also note that the archaic conduct of Afriforum and other racists organisations in this country will surely make peaceful coexistence between the native and the settler an impossible mission to achieve.

Issued by Leigh-Ann Mathys, National Spokesperson, EFF, 28 May 2024