ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe on Friday defended the party's decision not to rebuke Youth League leader Julius Malema for singing songs, regarded by many as hate speech.

He said doing so would be an attempt to erase the country's history.

There was widespread reaction to the Malema singing a song which said "kill the boer" earlier this week.

Mantashe said they would not rebuke Malema, adding: "Those songs are part of our history and we're not going to be forced to erase that history."

The secretary general also had to deal with the outfall from the arrest of his party's spokesperson Jackson Mthembu on drunk driving charges.

Mthembu was arrested on Thursday morning while driving in a bus lane on the N2 highway in Cape Town.

He was released and ordered to appear in court later this month. Mantashe said the law must take its course.