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The Young Communist League [uFasimba] has been observing with keen interest the proceedings at the Equality Court brought against the ANC Youth League and joined by the ANC by Afri-Forum seeking to ban the lyrics of the song dubbed dubhul’ ibhulu. The YCL believes that these proceedings are reminiscent of apartheid era tactics of suppressing freedom of speech and contemporary tactics of burying the history of the liberation movement.
We must state categorically that those who do not agree with Cde. Julius Malema should not confuse the issue of the song as it does not belong to an individual but to the movement, and should in principle defend the history and legacy of the movement.
The YCL, in our discussions with Afri-Forum Youth and Freedom Front+ Youth, expressed our disappointment in their court action as we regard it as a mere publicity stunt and completely shifts focus on the real reasons why farmers and farm workers are being killed. The banning of the song will never deter criminal elements from killing farmers, nor will it sober some farm owners from “mistakenly” killing black farm workers assuming they are baboons or dogs.
As the YCL, we believe that the real issue should be reform of land ownership, a halt to farm eviction, better working conditions for farm workers, secured land rights for farm dwellers and access to basic services for them.
The court action is also a wasted opportunity to ensure that land owners and farmers, together with the entire society, contributes towards nation building and reconciliation. The assertion that a song perpetuates hate speech and leads to the killing of farmers is as ridiculous as suggesting that many people fall in love after a rendition of one of Celine Dion’s songs.
We are committed to the objectives of the National Democratic Revolution, which are the building of non-racial, democratic and prosperous society. But in the same vein, will be opposed to any attempt to use the court to rewrite history.
Without pre-empting the judgement from the courts, there is no guarantee that anybody who suffered under apartheid will comply with a decision that instructs us on which struggle song to sing and which not to. In fact, there are many more anti-apartheid songs that are more agitating and more violent than this one, which our people continue to sing.
The leadership of the YCL will in the course of the week attend the proceedings as a show of support and opposition to the application by Afri-Forum. Details to this effect shall be released in due course.