AfriForum and Saai believe they will get the justice they do not get at home by disseminating the dossier abroad.
Few – and particularly the high and mighty – are held accountable for their misdeeds in South Africa.
That is why former prosecutor Gerrie Nel has made a name for himself pursuing justice for those ignored by the system.
Now, as head of AfriForum’s private prosecutions unit, he has put together a comprehensive dossier painting EFF leader Julius Malema as a purveyor of hate speech and someone who incites race-based violence.
But this dossier is not intended as some form of political statement on behalf of white people in SA… it is intended to be disseminated among lawmakers abroad as evidence for targeted sanctions against Malema.
In doing so, AfriForum and the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) believe they will get the justice they do not get at home.
By focusing on one individual, they may be accused by the EFF and others of racism, but it would be hard to call them traitors because they are, effectively, calling for accountability among rabble-rousing politicians.
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They’re not stupid – they know that the time is ripe for such a campaign outside our borders.
US President Donald Trump has turned the spotlight on South Africa and, rightly or wrongly, accelerated the debate on issues like farm murders, affirmative action and broadbased black economic empowerment.
There is precedent – from Zimbabwe – for targeted sanctions against politicians who are alleged to be corrupt or abusing their country’s citizens, with these being applied by both the US and Europe against members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.
The latest local actions, though, will be viewed by many as unpatriotic at the least and will certainly not nudge the ANC into having an open debate about the issues the dossier raises.
This prosecution, we worry, may even widen the race gap and raise tension.
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