Julius Malema takes the stand in South Africa to defend himself against charges of 'hate speech'
Julius Malema, youth leader of South Africa's governing African National Congress, has defended himself in court against charges of hate speech.
He said the trial, brought by the lawsuit of the Afrikaners' group AfriForum, had "helped shed some light", allowing him to explain why white people should not be offended by the song "Shoot the boer".
Afriforum said Afrikaners felt degraded over the song and believed Malema sang it to "incite harm against" whites. Malema, on the stand in the second week of the trial, said the song was a metaphor for apartheid, and the call was to eliminate oppression, not kill individuals.
He steadfastly denied he was racist or inspired by violent hatred of whites.
"Boer" is Afrikaans – the language of Dutch descendants – for farmer, and sometimes is used as an insult for whites. Malema argued that in the song it is was metaphor for apartheid, and the call was to eliminate oppression.