African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) members sing "Shoot the Boer" Monday, Sept. 12, 2011, after a judge ruled the black man who leads the youth wing of South Africa's governing party has no right to sing the song some whites find offensive. (AP Photo)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The black man who leads the youth wing of South Africa's governing party has no right to sing a song some whites find offensive, a judge said Monday.
The judge ruled that while such anthems had their place during apartheid, they constitute hate speech in a society now struggling to redefine relations between the races.
Monday's ruling comes four months after hearings in the hate speech trial of Julius Malema that were broadcast live on national television. The court case is separate from Malema's ongoing African National Congress disciplinary hearings, which also have drawn wide attention in South Africa.
While Monday's judgment could be seen as a setback for the embattled Malema, the lightning-rod figure might use it to rally support from South Africans who see "Shoot the Boer" as part of the heritage of the anti-apartheid movement. "Boer" means farmer in the language of South Africa's Dutch descendants known as Afrikaners.
http://www.thegrio.com/news/south-africa-rules-against-youth-leader-for-hate-speech.php
