Cape Town - AfriForum is under increasing scrutiny with the MK Party and two ANC members lodging treason charges against the organisation, and SANCO indicating their intention to do the same.
The political parties said they stood against AfriForum for peddling false information about South Africa’s transformation and expropriation policies.
ANC members, Eric Kweleta and Phindile George and Jacob Zuma-led uMkonto weSizwe (MK) Party lodged charges yesterday at the Lingelethu-West Police Station and Cape Town Central Police Station. The reaction follows an executive order issued by US President Donald Trump, in which he offered white South African refugee status.
In a statement, Kweleta said they had also approached the Provincial Commissioner’s office in their plight and called on AfriForum members to be arrested for treason.
“We are calling for the immediate arrest of AfriForum leaders and deregistration of AfriForum as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) due to their actions against the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” he said.
He cited AfriForum’s alleged failure to comply with the Non-profit Act and said that their actions against the Constitution warrant deregistration as an NPO.
“An investigation must be conducted into Afriforum’s funding sources to ensure that they are not receiving funding from external sources that promote hate speech and division.”
The MK party told the media outside of the Cape Town Central Police Station on Monday that they believed treason was being committed.
“We came to open a case of treason against the AfriForum, based on what they have done,” deputy president of the MK party, John Hlophe said.
“You recall that there is an executive order which Donald Trump, the American president, has now issued against South Africa following the intervention that was made by AfriForum,” he said.
“We have opened the criminal case against AfriForum because we want them to be questioned.”
Hlophe said via a statement which he read out that the actions of AfriForum were treasonous betrayal of South Africa.
AfriForum on Monday said the accusations were untrue and that the ANC themselves were at fault for “misleading” the country and its people.
“This charge is not going to give AfriForum sleepless nights, because the accusations of treason against AfriForum are absurd. Any investigation will show that there are no grounds for these false allegations against the organisation,” they added.
“If there is anyone who can be singled out for not acting in the interest of the country, it is the ANC. Their actions against the interests of the citizens of the country is evident, among other things, in state capture and other corruption as already pointed out by the Zondo commission; and the failure of the criminal justice system to act appropriately against individuals responsible for state capture and other transgressions.”
Earlier AfriForum said they expressed appreciation to Trump’s administration for the recognition given to the discrimination against Afrikaners.
“Our plea to the USA will also be that, should they want to punish anyone, they should rather punish ANC leaders than us as common people and our farmers who depend on the AGOA agreement.”
Police confirmed a case of High Treason which had been opened at Lingelethu-West Police Station.
South African National Civic Organisation, SANCO Peninsula Region also said they intended to lay charges against AfriForum for spreading false information about SA.