‘We never said there is white genocide in South Africa’: AfriForum says it is being scapegoated

AfriForum’s chief executive, Kallie Kriel has denied that his organisation is responsible for the deterioration in relations between the United States and South Africa, saying the civil-rights group is being used as a scapegoat amid increasingly public exchanges.

IOL reported on Saturday that US President Donald Trump announced a total boycott of the G20 Summit taking place in South Africa later this month. The boycott and subsequent comments from US politicians have put AfriForum at the eye of the diplomatic storm.

Kriel: ‘We never used that terminology’

Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Saturday, Kriel insisted AfriForum had never described the situation in South Africa as a “genocide” targeting Afrikaners.

“That is another lie spread by the ANC. The fact is, those media institutions that accused us of spreading the white genocide narrative, we took them to the Press Ombud and already five of those institutions had to apologise to us. We never used that terminology.

“Our stance is quite clear, the ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the farmer’ chant, calling for the killing of Afrikaners on an ethnic basis, is a genocidal call. But we never said there is genocide. All we are asking from the government and the president is – condemn this call, acknowledge the fact that we are seeing tortures that accompany these murders, and declare it a priority crime,” he said.

Kriel said when his organisation visited the United States to seek, AfriForum understood the consequences of concerns which had been raised repeatedly in Washington about the situation in South Africa.

“We knew exactly what the consequences would be if those issues were not addressed. That is why we went to the US after that post (by Trump) and made a plea to the US administration not to punish the country for the irresponsible behaviour of the ANC. The fact is, and people are falling for this, they don’t want to take responsibility for the consequences of their own negative behaviour. They now need a scapegoat,” he said.

“If you go and have a look, long before we went to the US, in the House of Representatives, a Bill was asking for the review of the relationship with South Africa. The stuff mentioned there was former minister Naledi Pandor visiting Iran and a number of other issues. We did not go to Iran, we did not sign the Expropriation Act, we are not the ones refusing to condemn the ‘kill the Boer’chant.It is the irresponsible behaviour of ANC leaders.”

Kriel said the denialism by the ANC has failed and everyone is now reaping the “bitter fruits”.

Political fallout grows ahead of G20

The political dispute between Pretoria and Washington has taken on a diplomatic dimension after public comments by US political figures and the decision by Washington to withhold official representation at the G20.

Observers say the episode has amplified domestic polarisation, with civil-society groups, opposition parties and government figures trading accusations about motives and responsibility.

Earlier on Saturday, IOL reported that South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has publicly challenged claims by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Afrikaners are being racially persecuted, describing the allegations as politically motivated and unsupported by formal data.

The exchange on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) comes in the wake of Trump’s announcement that no American officials would attend next week’s G20 summit in South Africa. IOL reported on Saturday that Trump insisted that his administration would not send officials to the G20 in Joburg. 

Trump claimed that “Afrikaners are being slaughtered,” accusing Pretoria of turning a blind eye to violence against white farmers. His remarks drew sharp criticism from South African officials and analysts, who dismissed them as inflammatory and inaccurate.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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