Julius Malema, the President of the Youth League of the South African ruling party, the African National Congress, has become a topic of heated discussion throughout the capitals of the world today mainly due to his deep hatred of the white South African Afrikaneer population and for his resurrection of an old ANC war song that was very popular amongst black South Africans during the days of the struggle against apartheid and white minority rule. The song openly calls for the mass murder of the white population in South Africa, and is indeed titled, "Kill The Boer".
The "boer", which in Afrikaans means "farmer", is the name by which the white indigenous population of South Africa are known. The reason for Malema's deep-seated anger and openly racist disposition is that 20 years after the fall of apartheid in South Africa the majority of those that belong to the working class black population in that country are, according to him, "still suffering" and "have not enjoyed the benefits of South Africa's vast gold, diamond, platinum and other mineral resources". There is no doubt that Malema is right when he says that up until today it is indeed the white boers that still control both the economy and industrial and agricultural production in South Africa whilst the quality of life and the standard of living of the majority of the working class black population in the rural and urban areas and in the notorious townships and shanty towns is slowly getting worse by the day. Few can successfully dispute the legitimacy of that assertion and, in my view, it is indeed a very real problem that needs to be addressed very quickly and in a responsible, effective,equitable and reasonable manner..
However the solution surely cannot be found in Malema's disgraceful and retrogressive proposition that the white indigenous population of South Africa should have all their farms and industries nationalised by the government and that the entire boer community should be subjected to mass murder and genocide. My view is that it is completely unacceptable for anyone in this day and age to be openly calling for the killing of anyone else and to be inciting the population to commit ethnic cleansing on a grand scale. The truth is that I am utterly disgusted with Malema and for me he represents nothing less than the evil face of extremism and the lunatic wing of South African politics.
He is not only a racist with a deeply malevolent spirit and bad aura but he is also an extremely dangerous young man who, if not checked and put in his place in time, may end up igniting a terrible fire in the beautiful rainbow nation that South Africa has now become, which would eventually lead to a very bloody and prolonged civil war. In my view Julius Malema is everything that Nelson Mandela is not and I sincerely hope that Jacob Zuma, the South African President, will eventually call this angry, young, wild and impatient hot-head to order before his influence and power grows and before he becomes completely uncontrollable. Directing him to change the words of the song from "KILL the boer" to "KISS the boer" is a good first step but it is surely not enough. The ANC and Zuma would do well to go a step further and remove him as the Youth League leader and to expel him from the party.
Racism and incitement to kill others on racial grounds, whether it is white against black or black against white, has no place in the world today and it must not be tolerated in any shape or form. South Africa is a beautiful nation which has been blessed by God with wonderful, hard-working and productive people. Quite apart from that she is also a great source of pride to Africa. Malema and those that think like him must not be allowed to destroy her or to blight her future. God bless Africa.
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was a former Special Adviser to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and later Minister of Aviation under Obasanjo leadership. He is currently aspiring as Governor of Osun State in 2011.
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