Songs about killing any persons have no place in our democracy

25 August 2022

Please find attached a soundbite by the DA National Spokesperson, Solly Malatsi MP.

Today’s ruling on a song which calls for the killing of farmers, shows that the EFF is hellbent on igniting the flames of racial division in our country.

While the DA respect the court's ruling, we believe that the persistent effort of the EFF to defend the indefensible in this case sets an extremely dangerous precedent for our young democracy.

There is no place in our democracy today for advocating the killing of any particular persons, and calling for this through song or other means is unacceptable. The DA calls on the EFF and other parties to refrain from making racially inflammatory statements.

South Africans who value our united, constitutional and rights-based democracy should unite and reject this ploy by the EFF to divide South Africa.

Racially divisive and inflammatory statements like the lyrics of that song stand in the way of our country’s pursuit of reconciliation. The wounds inflicted on many South Africans as a direct result of our history of racial division can only be healed by combined efforts to protect the rights of all South Africans.

No one must be allowed to sing a song calling for the killing of any other minorities, and so the same should apply to this song. No person should ever sing a song to call for the killing of religious believers, LGBTQI minority communities, other races, those living with disabilities – the thought of such a song is utterly abhorrent, and likewise this song is too.

The EFF’s ongoing division of society along racial lines is consistent with their announcement this week that they will work with the ANC after Election 2024.

An EFF-ANC coalition would entrench deliberate racial divisions, and will deliver a coalition government that thinks inciting violence against minorities is okay – and this must be stopped.

The racial divisions sowed by the EFF must be opposed, and the DA commits to fight them every step of the way. The DA stands up for every South African, for unity, for togetherness and for equality, and hence why the DA can never govern together with the EFF, at any level of government.

Our nation can only prosper and succeed where we come together and work together for a better future.

The DA calls on the EFF to immediately stop singing this divisive song.

Issued by Solly Malatsi, DA National Spokesperson, 25 August 2022