The past month was characterised by relentless attacks on AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement. The crime that the two organisations are accused of? They dared to voice uncomfortable truths about the South African government. Many baseless allegations were flung at the two organisations. I will address them collectively by referring to Tom Eaton’s recent piece, because it contains almost all the most popular yet unsubstantiated smears levelled at AfriForum.
Some commentators were flexing their apparent mind-reading muscles in a desperate attempt to attribute every cynical, selfish or even evil motive imaginable to AfriForum’s actions. From allegations that AfriForum hates the poor to claims that the organisation is exploiting Afrikaner fears for money — Eaton’s attack is rife with such falsehoods. Notably, the only organisations slandered in this dishonest manner are those that highlight issues that affect the white minority and Afrikaners in particular, such as farm murders.
In contrast, NGOs that create awareness of gender-based violence are never accused of doing so for the money or lectured about fabricating a victimhood narrative. Their arguments are never scoffed at or lazily dismissed with comments such as “The majority of victims of violence are men, you know!” They are also not accused of spreading “misinformation”.
It has now been more than a month since US President Trump first posted about South Africa, and since the post, nobody has been able to provide a single shred of evidence to substantiate their claims that AfriForum “is spreading misinformation about South Africa”.
Ironically, it is quite easy to provide examples of misinformation that is being spread about AfriForum. A perfect example is Eaton’s false claim that AfriForum is demanding the US impose sanctions on South Africa. AfriForum has never made such demands on any platform. Our stance has always been crystal clear: punish the politicians who are advancing and implementing destructive policies. It is of course much easier to attack a fabricated AfriForum stance than the actual truth.
AfriForum is accused of perpetuating a narrative of “white victimhood” — as if it is impossible for the white minority to be victims of the real issues of discriminatory race laws, farm murders that often involve torture (and often no theft) and chants that encourage the murder of farmers. It seems that President Cyril Ramaphosa also believes that it is impossible for a person with a pale complexion to be a victim. This is evidenced by his claim on an international stage in 2018: “There are [sic] no murdering of white farmers in South Africa.” No nuance, just total, shameless denialism. Actual misinformation.
Those who smear AfriForum rely on speculative fabrications of our end goal, because it is impossible to critique AfriForum’s repeatedly stated primary objective without critics revealing their personal prejudices. AfriForum’s goal straight from the horse’s mouth? To ensure a safe, prosperous future for Afrikaners in South Africa, free from discrimination, threats to their private property and chants advocating for their murder. For this goal we are relentlessly attacked, lied about and even investigated for high treason. However, as George Orwell observed: “Truth is treason in an empire of lies.”
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