Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Heritage and culture Media statements | Media statements

AfriForum condemns attack on Paul Kruger statue on Church Square; vows to take action

ByAfriForum 26/09/202526/09/2025

Soundbite: Ernst van Zyl (English)

Soundbite: Ernst van Zyl (Afrikaans)

AfriForum today visited the Paul Kruger statue in the Pretoria city centre to assess the damage caused last night when this statue group was attacked and seriously damaged. A gun barrel and a boot from two of the Boer warrior statues which flank the Kruger statue were broken off. The security fence around the statues was also damaged.

This attack on the Kruger statue follows exactly one week after the EFF called for the destruction of Afrikaner monuments in Parliament. During this debate, specific reference was made to the removal of the Kruger statue on Church Square. The party also tabled a motion in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature this week, demanding the renaming of the Kruger National Park. These targeted attacks on Afrikaner heritage come in the week that Heritage Day was celebrated nationwide.

Meanwhile, in his reaction on social media, EFF Spokesperson Sinawo Thambo celebrated the attack, describing it as “great news”. This sentiment is in line with the EFF’s motion to parliament that called for the “tearing down” of Afrikaner monuments.

AfriForum calls on the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to prioritise the upgrade of security at the Kruger statue as well as the restoration of the statues and the security fence.

According to Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, this incident is just the latest example of the attack on Afrikaner heritage that is currently intensifying. “It is no coincidence that this attack comes in the week after the EFF called for the destruction of this specific monument and others associated with the white minority,” Van Zyl continues.

“AfriForum will fight to defend Afrikaner heritage but at the same time also continue to erect new monuments, institutions and statues, because as Afrikaners we embrace our culture of being builders, not breakers,” Van Zyl concludes.