sachaproject

South Africa is a complex society. Shall a white extremist (Eugene Terreblanche) praising racial supremacy be killed and the media are going to the boil, rejecting the fault on publicity that followed Julius Malema barred from singing the old ANC revolutionary song ‘Ayesaba Amagwala‘ (meaning “the cowards are scared”) -aka ‘Kill the Boer’- by a Pretoria High Court’s ruling. The judges found it “unconstitutional”…

Music is thus held responsible for the murder of an Apartheid nostalgic, at the head of an extremist organization, the “Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging” (AWB). What if I say: and so? Who’s gonna cry for such a nazi guy? What if South African governments since 1994 have not been able to definitely eradicate these resurgences of deep Apartheid scares in SA society? Do young black people -agricultural workers in that very situation- have still to undergo being humiliated without reacting? Can music be held responsible?

Fela Kuti use to say that ‘music is the weapon’, every revolutionary movement in the world had its own songs. Struggles have always been accompanied by -sometimes violent- songs. These songs were made necessary to build consciousnesses and gather around a common cause: fighting oppression. Some countries even adopted warriors songs as national anthems. Let’s think to the French one, ‘La Marseillaise’ , for instance: “To arms citizens / Form your battalions / March, march / Let impure blood / Water our furrows”.

So if “Kill the Boer” can still awake young people consciousnesses in 2010, 16 years after Mandela came to power, one should better ask what is wrong with apartheid heritage? How come nobody’s been able to put an end to SA black people’s economical -if not political- oppression? How come two young guys felt on 3rd of April the urge and the necessity to kill their white master?

Here is an excerpt of a documentary on music and national liberation struggle against apartheid. Music is highly linked to social struggles. Music is of course a weapon, and will hopefully remain a weapon . Better stop breathing than stop singing.

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Tags: African National Congress, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, ANC, Eugene Terreblanche, Julius Malema, Kill the Boer, liberation struggle, Mandela, Murder, music, Music from South Africa, musique, Musique d'Afrique du Sud, Racism, Shoot the Boer, South Africa, Terreblanche