Mr Speaker and hon members, we are gathered here today to debate Human Rights Day. As always, we must commemorate the fateful events that took place in Sharpeville. But allow me to look at those events from the perspective of the here and now.
When we remember the crowds in Sharpeville fleeing before the police and their guns, we must also ask why we are confronted with similar images across our country daily. Why is it that in our hard-earned democracy legitimate protests must be met with excessive force by the police? Why is it that a young man at the side of the road can be arrested by marauding VIP police officers on trumped-up offences that don't even exist in law? [Interjections.] What does it say about a human rights culture that such official thuggery can continue for 24 hours of unlawful arrest, including the extraction of a coerced apology as well as the ransacking of a private citizen's home?
Perhaps most telling of all, why is this matter seemingly beyond official interrogation by Members of Parliament? Human rights and the freedoms that underpin our democratic society depend on a culture of tolerance and protection by the authorities and the ruling elite. When the authorities and the ruling elite find excuses and justifications for disrespecting or undermining those rights, then we are on a slippery slope towards tyranny. It is a sad reflection on the leaders, in whose name such gross misdeeds are committed, when they fail to condemn these transgressions.
In the broader context, we must remember that respect for human rights does not only impact on the rights of the individual, but plays a pivotal role in nation-building. We seem to be living at a time when some members of the ruling elite do not believe in nation-building and the reconciliation that allowed us to achieve a peaceful end to apartheid. The callous public insults and hate speech practised by some prominent individuals undermine nation-building and make a mockery of our efforts to build a human rights culture. It would do all of us good to recall that all human rights stem from the principles of respect and the inherent dignity of all people. It means that our conduct - especially when we are figures who command public platforms - must be respectful of other people, even our political opponents. I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Mr Chairman, if one reads the Afrikaans and English newspapers of the past weeks, the Sowetan and the City Press, it is clear how our society has become polarised and how totally differently we view issues in South Africa. When I follow internet debates, I read white racism and black racism in the majority of the debates.
In probably his most famous quote, Nelson Mandela said at his trial:
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
The Bill of Rights in the Constitution - I quote section 7:
... enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
And then section 16 states that -
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression ... [This] right ... does not extend to ... advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.
Sir, in 2003 the FF Plus laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission about the singing of the song "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer". The ANC argued that it was an innocent struggle song. The Human Rights Commission found that it was definitely hate speech and prohibited it. The context within which such a song is sung has to be taken into account, the commission found.
Mr Julius Malema comes from the Limpopo province. What is the context in Limpopo within which Mr Malema sings it? In the past month, close to Hoedspruit, Mr van Staden was shot dead while watching TV. Mr Booysen and his wife were stoned to death near Mokopane. Mr Cammaerts, a Belgian citizen, had his throat slit in Lephalale; nothing was stolen. Mr Paul Dunne from Tzaneen and Mr Ron Smit from Bela-Bela were shot to death.
Three farm murders took place this past weekend. Mr Danie Nortje was shot in the back through his bedroom window, while his curtains were drawn. Nothing was stolen. The previous weekend two farmers were murdered in cold blood. These murders come directly after Mr Julius Malema - on his birthday and at a meeting at the University of Johannesburg - sang the song "Shoot the Boere, they are all rapists". The ANC says it is an innocent struggle song.
Mr Malema was nine years old when Mr Mandela was released. What does he know of teargas, of Casspirs, and about the struggle? [Interjections.] He sings this song in the context of 2010 in Limpopo, where suddenly every week farmers are being murdered, murdered by young people who also know very little about the struggle. They hear the song in today's context.
Robert F Kennedy once said, and I quote:
What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.
I ask myself what Mr Mandela would have said about this. I say, Malema is an ill-disciplined, rude and conflict-seeking juvenile. Not only is he an embarrassment to the ANC and to all of us in South Africa, but he is mocking each one of you sitting here and all of us. What does the ANC do? Why don't they act? Are they afraid of him? Please have the guts to call him to order for the benefit of all of us in South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]