Mbeki questions why EFF leader Malema keeps singing 'Shoot the ...
Former President Thabo Mbeki said while there was no such a policy to kill farmers in the African National Congress (ANC), there was a context for such slogans when used during the struggle against apartheid.
Former President Thabo Mbeki in Conakry, Guinea for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation's annual Africa Day lecture on 25 May 2023. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Former President Thabo Mbeki has questioned why Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema continues to sing the controversial "Shoot the boer" song.
He said while there was no such a policy to kill farmers in the African National Congress (ANC), there was a context for such slogans when used during the struggle against apartheid.
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The former president was speaking on Thursday night at a dialogue held by Unisa’s Thabo Mbeki School of Public and International Affairs.
Malema ruffled feathers when he broke out chanting the slogan at the EFF’s tenth birthday celebrations last month. This has resulted in the Democratic Alliance (DA) threatening to report him to the United Nations.
The Freedom Front Plus has also objected to the use of the song.
Mbeki said these songs were used for mobilisation purposes during the struggle.
"So I am saying I listened to Julius saying this and I was saying to myself why does he say it? The slogans have a context, people were shouting slogans in 1952, by 1962 they became irrelevant, but they are a part of our history."
