moomanchu : Imagine reversing the situation. 100,000 white people in a stadium chanting for the death of blacks.
As the title of the opus is "Why do they want to kill all the White People", I would like to address the video of Julius Malema singing Dubul' ibhunu (Kill the Boer) in a stadium in 2023 to an estimated 90,000 supporters. This song arose during the armed struggle against apartheid and became a sort of war cry. The word 'Boer', as in "Kill the Boer", has several meanings depending on the context. It can mean 'farmer', it can mean someone of Dutch origin (Afrikaner) as in Anglo-Boer War, it was often just used to refer to the police or the army (who were primarily white Afrikaners). When it was used during the armed struggle there is no doubt many took it literally. But, even at that point, the song was not about "killing all white people" but specifically those who were their oppressors, and particularly their agents i.e. the police and the army.
Malema first sang this song while he was still a member of the ANC in March 2010. At the time he was taken to court and the high court ruled that the song was "unconstitutional and unlawful". Malema faced trial for "hate speech" in 2011 and was convicted, the judge ordering Malema and the ANC to stop singing the song in public or in private. In 2012 the ANC agreed to stop singing the song, even though they maintained it should be understood in its political context and not literally.
In 2022 Malema (now head of the EFF) was again taken to court for singing the song, where it was debated whether the song amounted to hate speech. The court accepted Malema's argument that the lyrics should not be interpreted literally but in their proper historical context as a statement of resistance to land dispossession.
The High Court ruled that (a) the chant and song were not intended to be taken seriously; (b) that there was not evidence of a causal link between the song and violence; (c) that the reference to Boer did not literally refer to White or Afrikaans people; (d) that the song did not incite hatred towards White people generally; and so the song was not hate speech and deserves to be protected under the rubric of freedom of speech. One might not agree with the court's decision, but in 2024 the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.
That's not quite the end of the matter, but clearly the courts have ruled that the song is not taken literally today and is protected by freedom of speech. No doubt Malema will continue to court publicity, and the recent involvement by Donald Trump has only served to enhance his reputation.