Everything you should know about Afriforum and its roles in South Africa.
On its official website, Afriforum describes itself as “a civil rights organization that mobilizes Afrikaners, Afrikaans-speaking people, and other minority groups in South Africa and protects their rights.” Wikipedia describes them as an organization that “focuses mainly on the interests of Afrikaners.” The organization has also been described as a lobby group (i.e., a group that lawfully persuades or influences the actions, policies, or decision-making process of government officials”.
However, Afriforum calls itself a civil rights group. The organization’s leadership has rejected being called an “Afrikaner nationalist group.” Afriforum was established in 2006. Its sole aim was to encourage the reengagement of Afrikaners in the public sphere. It is also closely affiliated with the solidarity trade union. The organization has been heavily criticized for saying that Apartheid was not a crime against humanity. Following the criticism, a court ruled that “Kriel did not justify Apartheid or align himself with the racial discriminatory policies of the past. He stated unequivocally that Apartheid was wrong and that it was a system that infringed on the dignity of people”. It has also denied accusations of advancing the idea of white genocide. It lodged multiple complaints against the media for insisting that it promotes white genocide.
Afriforum’s Youth Wing, called Afriforum Jeug, operates as a student organization with branches across universities. It focuses majorly on education issues. It also works to exempt youth from affirmative action.
The organization outlines its focus points as follows;
- Safety
- Self-dependence
- Cultural identity
- Justice and,
- Organization building.
It works to establish a safe environment for its members and supporters. It also aims to establish self-dependence and growing self-governance. Afriforum contributes to protecting and growing the Afrikaner culture, identity and heritage. It also works to let justice prevail on various levels and aims to achieve more significant objectives and goals.