GOOD Statement by Brett Herron ,
GOOD Secretary General
08 February 2025
Afriforum appears to be completely oblivious to the diplomatic storm they have created through a disinformation campaign that has no objective merit.
In a briefing, CEO Kallie Kriel expressed his “great appreciation for Trump” for the “recognition of the injustice to which Afrikaners are subject in South Africa”.
Afriforum are unable however to name the “injustice” they claim South African Afrikaners are experiencing.
What is apparent is that they do not accept that apartheid has ended, that democracy has brought changes to modern South Africa and that our constitutional democracy is geared to undoing all of the pain, exclusion and injustices that the crime against humanity inflicted on the majority.
The reality is that 30 years into democracy, the white minority, of which Afriforum represents some, continues to live extremely privileged lives in comparison to the vast majority of South Africans.
Kriel continues to blame President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government’s “irresponsible actions and policies” for the decision to end US aid to South Africa. When it is in fact Kriel and Afriforum’s irresponsible actions that have caused this economic and diplomatic crisis.
There has been no “confiscating land” and Afriforum is yet to provide evidence to the contrary. Their disinformation efforts have backfired and will hurt not only their members but the entire country. It is highly unlikely that white Afrikaans farmers will give up their land and lives of privilege to resettle in the USA as refugees. They will need to prove to the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) that they have been persecuted. There are rigorous interviews and background checks before being allowed to resettle in the USA as refugees.
The GOOD party remains committed to the implementation of the Expropriation Act.
It is not a silver bullet to fix all historical land injustices but it is a tool to redress the historical injustices of colonial and apartheid land grabs.
It is not a loaded gun to chase landowners into the sea as opponents have projected it to be.
Expropriating land without compensation is not new and is in line with our constitution.
Section 25 of the Constitution provides for nil compensation in circumstances in which it is just and equitable. And the matter has been settled in law for over 20 years.
The US Executive Order is ambiguous. On the one hand, it freezes aid but at the same time allows the head of an agency to use discretion to decide whether to give aid that is regarded as necessary.
The GOOD Party calls on President Ramaphosa to take proactive steps and deploy a South African delegation to engage world leaders on what South Africa stands for, an initiative he announced during his State of the Nation Address. In the face of US provocation, it is imperative that we keep a steady and diplomatic tone whilst we work to unravel the disinformation spread by Afriforum and their ilk.
The Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump also says “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the ICJ…”.
The GOOD Party remains supportive of our government’s application to the International Court of Justice to have the devastation of Gaza declared a genocide in terms of the Genocide Convention.
South African has a special obligation to share our experiences of apartheid with the world and thereby contribute to limiting the opportunities for such crimes against humanity to occur elsewhere. The conflict between Palestine and Israel bears great similarities to the apartheid conflict. It contains elements of racial and spatial division, land conquest, inequality, gross violation of human rights and societal militarisation that are very familiar to us.
We need to urgently dispel the false narrative that because we don’t always agree with the West, we are a rogue state.
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