Jounalists were serenaded at the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, when officials sang struggle songs to clarify the recent hate-speech debacle.

The party's secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, and its spokesman, Jackson Mthembu, were responding to several hate-speech complaints against ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, following a rally at the University of Johannesburg at which he sang a struggle song.

At a press conference yesterday Mantashe lashed out at those who labelled the song offensive.

Singing for journalists, Mantashe, and Mthembu belted out a verse of a struggle song: "Dubula dubula, dubula ngesbamu [shoot, shoot, shoot by the gun]"

The two denied that Malema sang the lyrics dubula ibhunu [shoot the farmer] at the rally but had sung a struggle song that refers to the taking up of arms.

The ANC claims that it was Mthembu's intention to explain the difference between the two songs when he sang to a Sapa journalist while in a police holding cell on Thursday, following his arrest for drunken driving in Cape Town .

Mantashe said: "Anyone who relegates this song to hate speech is part of those who are trying to erase our history.

"That would be unfortunate, as it is a struggle song that was used when we were still fighting for liberation.

"This song will not be erased from our history because of people who are sensitive."

He said the ANC would welcome a meeting with Afriforum, one of the organisations taking Malema to the Equality Court, saying that the song was offensive.

Afriforum youths last week handed a list of farm-attack victims to the ANC Youth League in response to the song debacle.