Limpopo stadium named after Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer and Aids denialist Peter Mokaba

The ANC has decided to honor Peter Mokaba by naming the stadium, built for the soccer world cup, in the Limpopo province after him. Peter Mokaba is known in the ANC ranks as a freedom fighter in the apartheid era. Not everyone agrees that this man should be honored in such a way, there are many more worthy people they could have chosen.

Peter Mokaba was a open Aids denialist saying that HIV and Aids has nothing to do with the other and has played a large role in the state of South Africa’s infection rate. Then there is his famous speech he gave in 1990 where he started the now famous Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer slogan. Since then farm attacks greatly increased. At his funeral in 2002 the people wore banners with large letters Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer and sang old ANC struggle songs. The week after his death there was six known ‘military style’ farm attacks, some believe the people where instigated by the songs and the slogan which some see as a instruction and that the leading party condones the murders. When it was first taken to court to have it banned, the court ruled that:

The South African Human Rights Commission, however, recently ruled that the ANC slogan was not hate speech, but merely an expression of "the constitutional rights to free speech."

Only after Cassie Aucamp of the Afrikaner Unity Movement told the WorldNetDaily that: imagine the uproar if Afrikaners were to start chanting ‘Kill the Xhosa’s, Kill the blacks’ at the next funeral of a murdered farmer, did the ANC step up and condemn the use of the slogan.

This all came to light after Afri-forum has written to the FIFA world cup organization, asking that FIFA would object to using a stadium named after a man that played such a large role in denying HIV / AIDS and also instigating people to commit murder in order to eradicate a certain ethnic group. Afri-forum decided to take this step after five farmers who have been murdered in the Limpopo Province in the past month. One of them was a Belgian citizen whose throat was cut. Kallie Kriel the CEO of Afri-forum said:

Any World Cup match played in a stadium named after Peter Mokaba will be a slap in the face of the relatives of the thousands of victims of farm murders and HIV/Aids in South Africa,

 FIFA has in the past refused to hold a match in a stadium which was named after Adolf Hitler. Afri-forum says that they should do the same in this instance. Peter Mokaba is no Hitler but he did play a vital role in thousands of people living/dying of HIV/Aids and the more than 2 000 farm murders that took place since 1990. And if FIFA would object to the name would send a clear message that FIFA does not condone murder and supports the fight against HIV/Aids.

They have also in addition to that request asked that a moment of silence is observed at all World Cup matches played in Limpopo, in commiseration with victims of violence and those who is affected by HIV in South Africa. They would also want the teams to play with a black armband as a sign of sympathy with the victims.

 UDPATE: Afriforum statement:

The civil rights initiative AfriForum responded to the five farmers who have been murdered during the past month in South Africa’s Limpopo Province – including a Belgian citizen, who died after his throat was cut this past weekend – by today writing to FIFA to object to the fact that the FIFA 2010 World Cup Stadium in Limpopo is named after an instigator to the murder of farmers, as well as a denialist of the fact that HIV causes Aids, namely Peter Mokaba.

In the early 1990s, Peter Mokaba became notorious for his slogan “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” and for denying the existence of HIV. According to AfriForum, since Mokaba started inciting people to murder farmers, already more than 2000 farmers have been killed in South Africa. The South African Human Rights Commission also ruled that the “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” slogan is hate speech.

According to AfriForum, Peter Mokaba’s denial of the existence of HIV contributed to South Africa being the country with the highest incidence of HIV in the world today (more than 10% of the population is HIV positive). In addition nearly a million South Africans have already died because of the virus.

Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, stated that FIFA would never allow a World Cup Soccer match to be played in a stadium named after Adolf Hitler, therefore it is unthinkable that FIFA can allow a World Cup Soccer match to be played in a stadium named after Peter Mokaba, who likewise instigated people to commit murder on ethnic grounds.

“Any World Cup match played in a stadium named after Peter Mokaba will be a slap in the face of the relatives of the thousands of victims of farm murders and HIV/Aids in South Africa,” Kriel said. If FIFA were to object to the name, it would in Kriel’s opinion send a clear message that FIFA does not condone murder and is serious about supporting the fight against HIV/Aids.

In addition AfriForum also asked FIFA to ensure that a moment of silence is observed at all World Cup matches played in Limpopo, as a symbol of commiseration with the victims of violence and HIV in South Africa, as well as for teams to play with black armbands as a sign of sympathy with the victims.

Kriel said that the FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament is a wonderful opportunity for unifying the world and South Africans, therefore it is a pity that this event is being exploited to pay homage to a polarising figure such as Mokaba.

AfriForum will launch a full-scale campaign in this regard, unless FIFA distances itself from honouring an instigator to murder.