AfriForum says Nelson Mandela Foundation is dishonest
Roets is facing contempt of court charges over a tweet about the apartheid flag after it was deemed hate speech earlier this week.
AfriForum takes on the Nelson Mandela foundation after its deputy chief executive Ernst Roets landed in hot water for a tweet about the apartheid flag.
Roets is facing contempt of court charges over a tweet about the apartheid flag after it was declared hate speech earlier this week.
AfriForum accused the Nelson Mandela foundation of playing a polarizing role and being dishonest about the tweet.
In a press release AfriForum called on the foundation to put to rest their quest for revenge and take hands with AfriForum instead to establish a society with mutual recognition built on respect between communitie
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the foundation’s claim that they tried to work with AfriForum is false.
“The opposite is true. On 4 September 2018, AfriForum’s legal team sent a letter to the foundation’s legal team requesting a discussion to ensure that a minor outcome is achieved, rather than a divisive outcome. In this letter, AfriForum also asked for cooperation to prevent the dispute from degenerating and to further polarize our country’s diverse communities – something that we must prevent through collaboration. I was shocked when the foundation knocked this hand of friendship off and let their legal team know: ‘[O]ur client has instructed us to reject your client’s request’,” says Kriel.
Regarding the foundation’s decision to act against the “contempt of court” by Roets, Kriel said the foundation’s urge for banishment and censorship is so strong that they even want to prosecute people like Roets who acted within the framework of the court’s guidelines.
“The court said that the flag could be used for journalistic and academic purposes. However, the foundation now wants to enforce this ban even more strenuously through a witch hunt against Roets, a doctoral law student, because he dared to ask an academic legal question whether he did violate the law,”Kriel added.
According to Kriel, the witch-hunt is precisely the kind of behaviour that AfriForum resisted in the past.
Kriel also points out that AfriForum warned that the foundation’s banishment of the old flag would give it new life and even a cult status.
“Our society is now reaping the rewards of the foundation’s polarizing actions,” Kriel says.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: ‘Opportunistic’ land claimants seek state payouts – AfriForum
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