Sep. 13 (GIN) - The African National Congress says it is “appalled” by the judgment against ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema who was found guilty of “hate speech” in a just-ended trial.
A civil rights group, AfriForum, brought the charges against Malema for singing”Dubula l’bhunu” or “shoot the Boer,” at youth rallies. An apartheid-era freedom song, the lyrics include a call to shoot the white farmer. Video evidence produced in court showed Malema making gun gestures while singing.
Sep. 13 (GIN) - The African National Congress says it is “appalled” by the judgment against ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema who was found guilty of “hate speech” in a just-ended trial.
A civil rights group, AfriForum, brought the charges against Malema for singing”Dubula l’bhunu” or “shoot the Boer,” at youth rallies. An apartheid-era freedom song, the lyrics include a call to shoot the white farmer. Video evidence produced in court showed Malema making gun gestures while singing.
ANC spokesperson Keith Khoza denounced the ruling for failing to consider the history of South Africa. The ANC supported Malema in the court fight.
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But Judge Collin Lamont of the “Equality Court” called the lyrics, “discriminatory and harmful” to the Afrikaner community. The song was “hate speech” and should not be sung in public or at private meetings, he said.
According to its charter, the ANC is formally opposed to racial distinctions and seeks a non-racial society.
The judgment has raised concerns about freedom of speech, and has been described as one step away from “thought control”. Independent political and policy analyst, Somadoda Fikeni, said the matter could have been resolved outside the courts.
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“If you begin to criminalize the words you may be inviting more disaffected youth to sing these songs and creating more criminals inadvertently. You do not regulate attitude, you educate.
Malema’s popularity with youth and his activism pose a major challenge to the ANC old guard. Last week he declared "economic war" against the white minority, saying: "The day has come, and on Oliver Tambo's birthday, we are going to march to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and take the battle to the monopoly capital.” The government, he said, was "in full cooperation with imperialists" and was undermining the "African agenda".
Malema made his speech at the 67th anniversary of the ANC in Scwetla, Alexandra. Over 1,000 ANC loyalists were in attendance. He continues to face ANC party charges, however, with three other colleagues for advocating regime change in Botswana and bringing the ANC into disrepute.
Over 100 Burned To Death In ‘Avoidable Tragedy
Sep. 13 (GIN) – A fireball that raced through Nairobi’s densely populated Sinai slum on Monday incinerated over 100 residents including many who ran to a sewage-filled river for cover but were burned alive there.
Charred bodies lay scattered in the twisting alleyways of the Sinai informal settlement that lies halfway between the airport and the city center.
Survivors sobbed as they walked through the explosion site: one man found the body of his child, still smoldering. Other people just stared, as they tried to come to terms with their loss.
According to Amnesty International, over half of Nairobi’s populations - some two million people - live in makeshift shacks on just one per cent of the city’s usable land. They live without adequate access to water, hospitals, schools and other essential public services.
The leaking pipeline was owned by the Kenya Pipeline Company, which has been dogged by corruption, mismanagement and high-level incompetence, according to John Njiraini of the Kenyan Standard newspaper. The company has denied responsibility for the disaster but admitted the leak was from a pipe due to be replaced.
British Archbishop Seeks Meeting With Mugabe Over Religious Persecution
Sep. 13 (GIN) – The Archbishop of Canterbury is seeking a closed door meeting with Zimbabwe’s Pres. Robert Mugabe over reports of “bullying, harassment and persecution” of members of the Anglican Church.
The visit by Archbishop Rowan Williams is set for October. Mugabe has not yet offered to meet the cleric.
Zimbabwe’s Anglican church split in 2007 over the ordination of homosexual priests. One-time Bishop of Harare Nolbert Kunonga, opposed to gays in the clergy, left the church and declared himself an “archbishop”. He was excommunicated a year later.
In a media interview Dr Kunonga was quoted as saying he aimed to take control the 3,000 Anglican churches, schools, hospitals and other properties serving 600,000 Anglicans in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi.
After a High Court ruling giving Kunonga interim custody of church properties, evictions were started against the sitting bishops, including The Rev. Dzikamai Mudenda, his wife and extended family.
“Kunonga was given custodianship of Anglican properties when he is no longer a member of our church and province and he is now evicting Anglican priests and we don't know who he is going to put in these houses. God help us," said the Rt Rev. Dr. Nicholas Chad Gandiya, whose own home was vandalized by thieves taking computers and cellphones.
The Archbishop will become the first prominent British representative to visit Harare in a decade.
Angolan Beauty To Be Miss Universe
By Fungai Maboreke
Sep. 13 (GIN) – Out of a field of 98 contestants, Leila Lopes of the Republic of Angola is this year’s winner of the coveted Miss Universe prize.
At the Sao Paulo, Brazil, event, Leila came in first place, while the second and third places went to Ukraine and Brazil respectively. Previous African winners were from Botswana and Namibia.
The 25 year old native of central Benguela province is currently a student of business management.
Her selection by the judges was due in part to her answers to test questions. Asked what she would change on her body if given a chance, Leila replied, “Nothing, I’m satisfied with what God has given me,” adding that "I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family, and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life.”
Asked about racism, the tawny beauty queen answered simply: “It’s not normal in the 21st century to think that way.”
In her previous post as Miss Angola, she said: “I work with poor kids; I work in the fight against HIV. I work to protect the elderly, and I have to do everything that my country needs---I think now as Miss Universe I will be able to do much more.”
A lot of bloggers believe that Leila’s new found fame will help bring the Portuguese-speaking African country into the spotlight.
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