African National Congress (ANC) Youth League president Julius Malema and the ruling party have been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against a ruling that he was guilty of hate speech.

Johannesburg High Court Judge Colin Lamont said on Thursday: "There is a reasonable prospect that another court will come to a different conclusion than I did."

The Equality Court ruled last week that Malema's singing of "shoot the boer" amounted to hate speech.

The complaint was lodged by AfriForum and farmers' union TAU-SA.

Speaking outside the court on Thursday, AfriForum's lawyer Willie Spies said he had expected the ruling, considering the matter was a high profile one.

"We would have hoped that they would have used the opportunity as a starting point for restoring the relations in the country," Spies said.

Malema's and the ANC's legal representative Muzi Sikhakhane argued in court the parties were applying for a conditional appeal.

This was on the basis that if the Constitutional Court declined to hear an appeal, they could still approach the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Spies said it was not known whether the highest court would hear the appeal since the constitutionality of the Equality Act had not been challenged in last week's hearing.

AfriForum and TAU-SA were granted one month to cross-appeal any other judgments Lamont had made.

The costs of the appeal would be decided by the Supreme Court, Lamont said.

In the interim, Malema was still interdicted from singing the song as he had given an undertaking in court, said Spies.

"If he sings it... he will be in contempt."

This was disputed by Sikhakhane who said: "Now that the appeal is on, the order is suspended."