Dubul' Ibhunu

"''Dubul' ibhunu''" (), translated as shoot the Boer, kill the Boer or kill the farmer, is a controversial South African anti-Apartheid song. It is sung in Xhosa or Zulu. The song originates in the struggle against apartheid when it was first sung to protest the Afrikaner-dominated apartheid government of South Africa. It gained new prominence after 2010 following its use at political rallies held by the African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

South African courts ruled it to be a form of hate speech in 2010, a ruling that was later overturned in 2022. Supporters of the song see it as a song that articulates an important part of South Africa's history, is an important part of political discourse, and that its meaning has been misconstrued as advocating killing Boers or farmers. Opponents of the song argue that it can be seen to bear a literal interpretation and therefore constitutes an incitement to violence and hate speech. Social and political commentators on South Africa, such as Jonathan Jansen and Stephen Grootes, have noted the song's ability to increase racial divisions within South Africa and polarisation, whilst strengthening radicals on either side of the country's political spectrum.

Interpretation

Boers, a sub-group of Afrikaners, are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in southern Africa who migrated to the rest of what would become South Africa during the Great Trek. The word ''boer'' also means 'farmer' in the Afrikaans language and, depending on the context, is often a pejorative term for an Afrikaner when used by non-Afrikaners.

Depending on the interpretation, the song might alternatively refer to institutional structures such as the National Party (NP), or to specific groups of people such as members of the South African Police (colloquially known as ''Boers''), the armed forces in South Africa during apartheid, white farmers, or to a specific ethnic or racial group generally.

Then African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has stated that interpreting ''dubul' ibhunu'' as 'kill the boer, kill the farmer' are perceiving a "vulgarised" version of the song that "incit sconflict" and that the song should instead be interpreted in the context of the struggle against apartheid as referring to a system.

History

The song has origins across the South African anti-apartheid political spectrum and was used by both the ANC and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). It pre-dates the toyi-toyi protest dance.

One of the first recorded accounts of "Dubul' ibhunu" was during the Delmas Treason Trial in 1985. The song was brought up in testimony during the trial wherein the prosecutor tried to link the defendants to the song and thereby prove malicious intent. The defense was able to rebut the implication that the accused acted with mens rea when it was proven that they were not present during its singing.

During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, Ntuthuko Chuene claimed that he killed Godfrey Frederick Lanz Heuer on his farm in August 1992 because he had been influenced by the "kill the Boer, kill the farmer" chant at ANC rallies. Chuene was convicted for Heuer's murder and sought clemency for what he argued was a politically motivated killing. Heuer's wife refused to give her permission to grant Chuene amnesty, arguing that Chuene's act was criminal in motivation rather than political.

Anti-apartheid activist and politician Peter Mokaba sang the song at a 1993 memorial rally for the recently assassinated anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani. The period in the run-up to South Africa's first democratic election in 1994 and subsequent transfer of power from white-minority government was a notable period of instability for South Africa marked with fears of potential for widespread racial violence. It was feared that the assassination of Chris Hani might trigger such violence and political chaos. This coincided with '' Operation Great Storm'', a violent paramilitary campaign launched by the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), the armed wing of the PAC, aimed at violently displacing white farmers to reclaim land for black Africans.

At Mokaba's funeral in 2002 the crowd spontaneously sang the song while ANC leaders were present.

On May 21, 2025, during a press conference in the Oval Office, U.S. President Donald Trump played a video featuring Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, chanting "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" and "Shoot the farmer – brrrrr pow!" at a political rally. Trump, seated next to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, presented the footage as evidence to support claims of a "white genocide" occurring in South Africa. President Ramaphosa refuted the allegations, stating that such chants did not reflect official government policy and that violence in South Africa affects all communities. He reaffirmed his government's commitment to public safety and nonracialism.

Controversy

The song is controversial in post-apartheid South Africa, where it has experienced a revival, being most notably sung by then African National Congress Youth League (ANCLY) leader, later leader of the EFF, Julius Malema and then South African President Jacob Zuma. The song, along with the slogan " One settler, one bullet", is often associated with the phenomenon of farm attacks in South Africa. The public reaction to the song has been compared to the public reaction to the anti- Indian Zulu language song AmaNdiya.

Malema first sang the song during a speech he was giving, in his capacity as President of the ANCLY, at the University of Johannesburg in 2010; where he sang in the context of post-1994 South Africa's slow resolution to the problem unequal distribution of land ownership along racial lines.Gunner, Liz (2015)
"Song, Identity and the State: Julius Malema’s ‘Dubul’ Ibhunu’ Song as Catalyst"
''Journal of African Cultural Studies'', vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 326–341. Accessed 28 January 2024. Four weeks after Malema's 2010 singing of the song the leader of the (a far-right wing Afrikaner nationalist party), Eugène Terre'Blanche

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