The organisation’s Head of Public Policy, Kallie Kriel, on Thursday defended AfriForum’s recent public statement attributing diplomatic tensions with Washington to unresolved domestic issues, including concerns about property rights and inflammatory political chants.
Kriel, speaking to Channel Africa, argued that the point of the statement was to highlight the need for government to confront issues that contribute to global misperceptions. He maintained that ignoring them, or dismissing criticism as misinformation, leaves room for heightened rhetoric from foreign leaders.
He stressed that AfriForum has “never used” the term white genocide and has repeatedly told US officials that such claims are false.
The debate intensified after US President Donald Trump again used the phrase in comments suggesting SA should be excluded from the 2026 G20 summit. The SA government responded by releasing racial breakdowns of farm murder victims for the first time. The data showed six murders on farms between January and March 2025, down from 12 in the same period the previous year, with one victim recorded as white.
Kriel argued that using only a short time frame presents an incomplete picture. AfriForum’s own data shows 49 farm murders in the 2023–24 financial year, representing 0.2% of SA’s 27,621 murders. He insisted that farm murders are “disproportionate” relative to the small number of people working and living on farms, and that the severity of attacks, including cases involving torture, warrants classification as a priority crime. He also emphasised that AfriForum condemns violence against all farm residents, including black workers.
The interview grew tense as Kriel repeatedly urged government to condemn chants such as “kill the Boer, kill the farmer”, which he described as creating fear and fuelling international misunderstanding.
Asked why AfriForum does not directly confront Trump over inaccurate claims, Kriel responded that President Cyril Ramaphosa has a responsibility to set the tone domestically. AfriForum, he added, has already told US officials that Afrikaners “are going nowhere” and should not seek refuge abroad.
–ChannelAfrica–
