It was unacceptable to sing the words “shoot the boer”, former president FW de Klerk said, according to a report published in Beeld newspaper on Thursday.
De Klerk also criticised President Jacob Zuma for failing to rebuke African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema.
“It is unacceptable to sing songs that ask that somebody gets shot,” De Klerk said.
“The historical context is irrelevant. It will be equally unacceptable if Afrikaners started singing songs from the Anglo-Boer war that ask that English people be shot.”
De Klerk also spoke about Malema’s statements — made in Kimberley ahead of the local government elections — that white people were criminals because they had stolen land.
“It is unacceptable for Malema to call white people criminals. It is even more unacceptable for Zuma to sit smilingly on the same stage while Malema, an important ANC official, makes such racist comments.
“Malema’s conduct is irreconcilable with the Constitution, which Zuma promised in an oath to protect.”
Malema has been hauled before the Equality Court for singing the words “shoot the boer”. Judgment is yet to be handed down.
On May 27, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said Zuma was worried about the possibility that comments by some senior party leaders may have alienated minority voters.
Briefing the media on Zuma’s political report presented at an ANC national executive committee meeting, Mthembu said the president had called for “very serious introspection” on the loss of minority votes the ANC suffered in the local government election.
Zuma did not mention the names of leaders he referred to, Mthembu said.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe conceded that comments by Malema could have contributed to the party’s lack of popularity among minorities. – Sapa