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.

AfriForum requests Ramaphosa to speak out against the brutal farm attack on Donovan Marx and “Kill the Boer”; urges pressure from GNU members

Soundbite: Kallie Kriel (English)

Soundbite: Kallie Kriel (Afrikaans)

AfriForum calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to speak out strongly against the brutal farm attack on Donovan Marx, a cattle farmer from the North West whose ears were severed during an attack last week, as well as other violent attacks. According to AfriForum, Ramaphosa’s silence regarding farm attacks is consistent with his continued refusal to condemn the call for ethnic violence against Afrikaners and farmers contained in the “Kill the Boer” chant, and his failure to declare farm murders a priority crime.

The organisation maintains that the President’s public condemnation of farm attacks is, from a moral perspective, the very least he can do, and that such condemnation, especially in light of the attack on Marx, is essential to ensure that this crime is neither downplayed nor ignored.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, Ramaphosa, as president of the country, has a has a duty to denounce farm attacks and to take the lead in eradicating this scourge. His condemnation of farm attacks would carry far more than just symbolic significance. It would provide recognition for victims of farm attacks, focus attention on the need to protect rural communities, and acknowledge the government’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the country’s residents.

He continues: “While Ramaphosa fails to condemn farm attacks, MK Party MP Andile Mngxitama makes inflammatory statements on social media, arguing, among other things, that the attack in which Marx’s ears were cut off is “symbolic to denote the refusal of land thieves to listen.’ On this matter, too, the President remains characteristically silent.”

According to AfriForum, the other parties within the Government of National Unity (GNU) have a critical role to play in exerting pressure on the President to officially condemn farm attacks and the singing of the “Kill the Boer” chant and to take a stand in favour of prioritising this crime. “The safety of rural communities is not a matter for political negotiation – it is the government’s constitutional and moral responsibility,” Kriel concludes.

Tomorrow (Tuesday 3 November), AfriForum will attend the first court appearance of suspects arrested in the Marx case at the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court.

According to Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s Chief Spokesperson for Community Safety, AfriForum will maintain a visible presence at the court to demonstrate its support for Marx and his family and to monitor the progress of the legal proceedings.

“AfriForum remains committed to concrete action and will therefore continue to mobilise and train communities through its 178 neighbourhood and farm watches. We are also continuing with the training of volunteers and the development of specialised response capabilities, in order to equip communities to play an active role in their own safety and, where possible, to cooperate with law enforcement agencies,” explains Broodryk.

“While we insist on responsible leadership from the President, AfriForum will continue to take concrete action to promote the safety of everyone who lives and works on our country’s farms,” concludes Broodryk.