Thanks to the leadership of Nelson Mandela, South Africa managed to peacefully move from the apartheid regime to the democratic government. It's not hard to understand that hatreds can take a long time to overcome when you think about the history there. Compared to many other governments across the continent, South Africa has fared very well and has prospered. Attempts to diversify the economic benefits throughout the population have been slow which has led to considerable frustration. That said, it's probably a good time for the ANC to stop singing songs about killing white people or grabbing your machine gun.
The outside world already talks about the violence in South Africa and with the World Cup arriving quickly, having political leaders singing songs of violence is not going to improve the image. Then again, maybe the leadership doesn't care about the image. As I've said before, I spent a lot of time traveling throughout South Africa and never once had any issue with violence.
Tension between every group - black, white and Asian - was always obvious though. South Africa needs to start behaving like the fantastic country that it is and move forward. Besides, the "kill the white person" song is especially ridiculous coming from an ANC leader who was practically a baby when Mandela came to power. Maybe he feels like a tough guy singing it but for the rest of the world he looks silly. Think like Mandela and be bigger than the hatred.
South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has told its members to refrain from singing the anti-apartheid struggle song "Shoot the Boer".
It comes amid rising racial tensions following the weekend murder of white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche.
His supporters have blamed ANC youth leader Julius Malema for inflaming the situation by singing the song.
The ANC's Gwede Mantashe said the death had no political motive but the song had contributed to racial polarisation.
