HE IS notorious for trying to whip up crowds with a political song that many feel is a dangerous throwback to apartheid. But young South Africans seem more enthused by youth leader Julius Malema’s unwitting foray into hip-hop.
DJs have turned Malema’s recent outburst against a BBC journalist into house music. The remixed tracks are playing on radio stations, being circulated on mobile phones and proving hugely popular at parties.
Malema, president of the African National Congress youth wing, is facing possible disciplinary charges after ejecting the BBC’s Jonah Fisher from a press conference, accusing him of “white tendency” and calling him a “bastard”, “bloody agent” and “small boy”. He fumed: “This is not a newsroom, this is a revolutionary house.”
The Julius Malema Songfeatures his exclamations "agent" and "bastard", scored with a hip-hop beat. It has had nearly 7,000 views on YouTube, with a slideshow of images including Malema riding a horse like murdered white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche, a printout of Malema's school exam results including his H grade in maths, Malema as a string puppet controlled by President Jacob Zuma, and Malema's face superimposed on a baby in a nappy advert.
Another YouTube posting of the track, headed “Revolutionary house mix by Malema”, has had nearly 5,000 views.
The Sowetannewspaper quoted Malema's lawyer, Tumi Mokoena, as saying they had not spoken regarding royalties for the songs.
Eugene Honey, a director at Bowman Gilfillan attorneys, told the paper that Malema did not have any copyright over the remixes. “Copyright has to be in material form,” he said. “It must be written down, maybe on a CD.”
A young South African, Bontle Phiri, told the Sowetan: "I like it. It makes me laugh and you can dance to it. But what is sad is that a leader said those things."
Malema’s singing days may be numbered. He said he will heed the ANC call for restraint, and stop singing the apartheid-era song, featuring the words “shoot the Boer”. It is blamed by some for inciting the recent Terre’Blanche murder. – (Guardian service)