AfriForum sends legal letters to people defaming it on social media

AfriForum says it has taken action against some social media users who it says are peddling false and misleading information about the organisation. 

In a statement on Tuesday, AfriForum said it had recently come to its attention that a serious and malicious fake news campaign was being driven on social media in an attempt to defame it.

The organisation said some of the falsehoods that were doing the rounds included that: 

• a suspected drug farm in Limpopo is operated by AfriForum's “Limpopo chairman”;
• the suspects accused of murdering two women and feeding them to pigs are AfriForum members;
• a suspect who apparently killed two Mpumalanga men and burnt their bodies is an AfriForum member; and 
• AfriForum members in Hartbeespoort target black business owners and burn down their businesses. 

“AfriForum has meanwhile taken action against certain social media users by sending letters of demand requesting that they halt the distribution of the false, misleading and defamatory content, remove the posts and post corrections,” AfriForum said. 

AfriForum said if those involved continued to defame it, legal action would be taken against them. 

“There isn’t any truth in these allegations, and no AfriForum members were involved in these gruesome crimes. This is just another desperate attempt to overshadow AfriForum’s work with falsehoods,” said Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s chief spokesperson for community safety. 

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