AfriForum appoints Werner Human as Deputy CEO
AfriForum has just appointed Werner Human as the organisation’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Prior to his appointment at AfriForum, Human served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Solidarity Movement Trust. In his role at the Solidarity Movement Trust, he was responsible for collaborating at a strategic level with all the Movement’s institutions to coordinate the implementation of the Movement’s overarching strategy.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, Human’s appointment stemmed from AfriForum’s decision to further strengthen its leadership structure by appointing vocation-driven young leaders with a proven track record of success. Kriel pointed out that AfriForum also needed to expand its leadership structure to meet growing public expectations that the organisation should do even more to promote community self-reliance as a buffer against escalating state decay.
“Werner Human will spearhead the further expansion of AfriForum’s operational capacity through strategically driven internal organisational management and will also lead AfriForum’s overarching legal strategy. Werner already possesses extensive experience regarding AfriForum’s legal strategy, having served as the organisation’s attorney between 2012 and 2018 in dozens of court cases aimed at holding the government accountable, as well as in cases concerning the protection of Afrikaans schools. Together with the rest of AfriForum’s senior management, he will also play a significant role in further refining and helping to implement the organisation’s future strategy,” says Kriel.
According to Human, he looks forward to actively helping build a better present and future as part of AfriForum. “I am grateful to become part of an organisation that plays a unique role in promoting practical self-reliance for the Afrikaner community and Afrikaans speakers, helping to foster good relations and cooperation with other cultural communities and stakeholders in society, and holding the government accountable in various ways,” says Human.
According to Human, it is thanks to loyal AfriForum members that AfriForum has grown into the country’s largest civil society organisation over the past 20 years, making a tangible difference in their communities every day, and he is excited to continue the journey alongside AfriForum’s members.
Human’s ties to AfriForum date back to 2012, when he joined Hurter Spies Inc. as an attorney – the law firm that has since acted as AfriForum’s legal representatives. As part of that legal team, he played a central role in numerous landmark cases concerning culture, language, municipal decay, education, and the accountability of state officials. This work not only strengthened AfriForum’s public interest litigation but also inspired other organisations to follow the same path.
In 2018, Human was appointed by Solidarity and, shortly thereafter, as Chief Operating Officer of the Solidarity Movement Trust. The institutions with which he was required to collaborate in this role included AfriForum, Solidarity, Solidarity Helping Hand, Akademia, Sol-Tech, the FAK, Maroela Media, the School Support Centre (SOS), and various other institutions.
