ANC agrees to 'Shoot the Boer' ban

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) pledged yesterday to stop its supporters singing the "Shoot the Boer" anti-apartheid anthem to avoid upsetting white farmers and stirring racial tension.

The agreement between the ANC and the white-minority interest group AfriForum ends a two-year legal battle over the song that had ignited a debate about freedom of speech, censorship of history and efforts to mend the racist rifts in South African society.

The liberation-era song calls on the oppressed black majority to gun down the Boers, or white Afrikaner farmers who were among apartheid's staunchest supporters.

A Johannesburg court ruled last year that it was "hate speech" after the then-ANC youth leader Julius Malema – who has since been expelled from the party for ill-discipline – sang it at several public meetings. An ANC appeal against that ruling was due to start in the Supreme Court today. The two sides instead agreed to sit down and reach a deal rather than ask the courts to decide.