Article

The problem is not AfriForum

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

IN times of deceit and propaganda campaigns, the bravest and patriotic are those who choose to speak the truth. They are special citizens. We should honour them while they still walk amongst us.

AfriForum’s trip to Washington D.C. this past week to meet US President Trump’s administration has outraged many South Africans.

The purpose of the D.C. trip was “to thank the Trump administration for the recognition given to Afrikaners as a people / cultural community and the discrimination to which Afrikaners are subjected, and to show appreciation for the Trump administration’s willingness to offer humanitarian assistance to Afrikaners.”, AfriForum wrote on its website.

There are now calls for treason charges against AfriForum. Jacob Zuma’s MK Party has already filed a treason complaint. There is already a petition calling for treason charges against AfriForum.

Leader of Action South Africa (Action SA) Herman Mashaba supports the treason charges. He’s already signed the petition.

ANC leaders , including President Cyril Ramaphosa, have accused AfriForum of creating divisions in South Africa.

People like Mashaba and Ramaphosa should be told the truth. And that is most of what is in AfriForum’s memorandum handed to The White House is true and should be welcomed by every South African.

You see, we must tell the truth in March 2025. And the truth is that AfriForum is not the problem in South Africa’s democracy. The problem is politicians.

Most of AfriForum’s grievances are valid. Dismissing them as misinformation as many people are doing is disingenuous.

The expropriation of land without compensation law that AfriForum opposes is a bad policy. It opens opportunities for abuse by politicians. That is why the Democratic Alliance (DA) is challenging it in court.

The law is not necessary. Why? Well, firstly, most land claims submitted to the government since the 1990s, through the land restitution program, have been resolved. By most, I mean at least 80%.

The land restitution program that began in the 1990s has been a mechanism to address the land injustices of the past. It has been working. With black people being compensated for pre-1994 land dispossession.

Secondly, the state is the biggest landowner in South Africa. White South Africans do not own most land. Then why not distribute that state-owned land to South Africans who need it? I repeat, ‘who need it’.

There are no land access issues that need expropriation without compensation in South Africa.

When it comes to land markets, anybody of any colour can buy land in South Africa. That there are land access issues is manufactured by radical leftist politicians whose aim is to spite white South Africans.

In my book, Lessons from Past Heroes, I have a section titled “National unity is in our interest”. In this section, I argue that our diversity in unity can be our strength on the global stage.

With expropriation of land without compensation, all politicians have done is to divide South Africans along racial lines.

So, AfriForum is right to complain about the expropriation law. They have my support in that.

Race-based policies have harmed both blacks and whites in South Africa. It was an ill-thought policy from the beginning.

Should we have programs to uplift the poor, most of whom are black? Yes, but those programs must not be race-based. Even if most of the poor are black. Anti-poverty programs must be non-racial. Non-racial programs  will be more efficient.

The socioeconomic background should be used as a metric to determine who should be eligible for government assistance. With this approach, we will avoid situations where rich black children from privileged areas are also beneficiaries of development programs. The children of Zuma should not be beneficiaries of such programs.

Last year, in an interview with Newzroom Afrika, author and political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki said that Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) was senseless. Blacks who account for more than 80% of South Africa’s population shouldn’t rely on whites (who account for less than 8% of South Africa’s population) for business growth, Mbeki said. Such is unsustainable.

Black people must build their industries and set-up their companies. There must be no reliance of any sort on the white population.

Mbeki believes that we should build for the future. That we cannot build for the past. With these comments, Mbeki reinforced my respect for him.

We need more black leaders like Mbeki. Black   leaders who speak common sense to South Africans. Black leaders must stop saying things that don’t make economic sense.

Years ago, I was interviewed by journalist Chris Bishop for his book “The BEE Billionaires”. Chris wanted my insights on BEE.

BEE undermines black achievement, I told Bishop. When a black person rose to the apex of success, it was assumed that he or she succeeded because of BEE. This was damaging, in my opinion.

There’s nothing to support about BEE. It’s an insult to black people. It discriminates against the white minority who are blocked out of economic opportunities because of the colour of their skin.

So, again, AfriForum is right to complain about race-based policies like BEE. They are also right to complain about Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA). BELA needs to be reviewed and amended.

And then we have black politicians who keep chanting “Kill the Boer” in rallies. They are doing this in a 30-year-old democracy. These leaders promote violence in a democratic South Africa. Their behaviour must not be tolerated in our beautiful country.

On South Africa’s foreign policy under the ANC, AfriForum is also spot on. Over the past fifteen, the ANC government has pursued an anti-America foreign policy. Its policies were aimed at antagonising the United States. Today, the US-South Africa relations are broken. It’s the ANC that should be blamed for that, not AfriForum.

Where AfriForum erred in its memorandum was the inclusion of the “aspirations” for “cultural autonomy” at the “southern tip of Africa”. These words should have never been in the memorandum, in my opinion.

Some people interpret it as AfriForum’s wish for Afrikaner self-governance. On social media, X specifically, I have seen some Afrikaners advocating for independence. Well, the Afrikaners who want self-governance must understand that it won’t happen. Zulus tried it in the 1990s and President FW de Klerk denied them self-governance.

Our focus as South Africans, of every colour, must be to build a non-racial, prosperous South Africa with stronger competitive marketplace and rule of law. PM

This article was first published on Politicsweb.co.za. Buy Phumlani’s book Lessons from Past Heroes here, and subscribe to his YouTube channel here.

© PHUMLANI M. MAJOZI