COPE welcomes the ruling by the High Court, banning the phrase "dubula ibhunu" or "shoot the boer". In the opinion of COPE, in the context of post liberation modern society, this is hate speech.

The argument of the ruling party that this phrase is part of struggle heritage is revisionist. The vast majority of the songs of the struggle are hymns and songs of upliftment and solidarity, but such songs do not fit the populist agenda of the ANC in their quest to further divide the people of South Africa.

In the context of the time of the struggle, the word "ibhunu" or "boer" was meant to include all white people, and not just farmers. There is no space in our democratic multi-racial society for violent sentiments such as this.

As white South Africans relinquished pride in the old South African flag and other symbols of the apartheid regime, so too must the old guard of the ANC let this song be consigned to the pages of our history.

We note that the ANC have the right to appeal the ruling, but we are taken aback by the arrogance of the ruling party when they expressed their surprise that they were not consulted before the ruling was handed down. The ANC is NOT the final arbiter of the cultural identity of all South Africans. We, the people of South Africa hold our common national consciousness as a collective.

The only song that truly unites us as a people is our National Anthem. We call on the people of South Africa to see through the hysteria of "kill the farmer" for what it is: an attempt by the kleptocracy that makes up the leadership of the ruling party to distract ordinary South Africans from the fact that it is failing dismally to deliver on its promises, while succeeding in lining the pockets of the elite within its ranks.

Statement issued by Phillip Dexter, Congress of the People, March 29 2010

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