Members of the public may be able to tune into Solidarity Radio broadcasts next week to hear the "Shoot the Boer" hate speech case against ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.
Solidarity Radio, the predominantly Afrikaans trade union's internet radio station, yesterday filed papers in the Johannesburg High Court requesting permission to broadcast what it calls "the biggest political trial since 1994".
Solidarity's sister organisation, Afriforum, a civil rights group representing Afrikaners and the Afrikaans community, took Malema to the Equality Court after he sang the struggle song Shoot the Boer in March last year. The high court subsequently interdicted Malema from singing the song, saying it was unconstitutional and unlawful.
But Malema sang it in defiance of the court order a month later on a youth league visit to Zimbabwe.
Afriforum wants Malema to be interdicted from "inciting, encouraging or promoting hostility towards any ethnic group" and wants the singing of the song declared as hate speech.
During the visit to Zimbabwe, Malema said the interdict was a "court ruling of the white men in South Africa, but we are not going to obey it".
Solidarity's Dirk Hermann, also the manager of Solidarity Radio, yesterday said the public had the right to follow the court proceedings.
"If the ANC Youth League wants to make a similar request [to broadcast the trial] we will not oppose it," he said.
He said the radio station, which draws its audience from among Solidarity's 150000 members, made the decision because no commercial TV or radio stations had applied to broadcast the trial live.
ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
In February the ANC applied to become party to the case, which starts on Monday. It is expected to draw senior ANC leaders to court.
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