AfriForum unfazed by Hawks probe, calls for police minister to take farm murders seriously

AfriForum, the right-wing Afrikaner group that has caught the ire of South Africans over high treason allegations, has revealed that it is yet to receive a formal notification of the charges against some of its leaders.

Its leader, Kallie Kriel says he only learnt through the media that he and some of the group's members are being investigated by the Hawks, the country's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).

This comes as the group has also called on the police minister Senzo Mchunu to take the "scourge" of farm murders seriously following the SAPS statistics on farm murders which reported only one farm murder incident for the reporting period, October to December 2024.

On Monday, Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya revealed they were investigating four dockets of high treason against organisations who approached the US government for assistance in taking President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC to task.

"There are four dockets opened by different people, maybe different political parties, that concern some individuals who may have crossed the border and communicated some things that may seem to be in the direction of high treason,” Lebeya said.

Lebeya added that the NPA will have to determine if elements of treason exist because for a treason case, there must be actions that show the accused "want to violate or threaten to endanger the existence of the republic".

The group is accused of spreading misinformation following their visit to the White House over the constitutionality of the Land Expropriation Act recently enacted by the seventh administration.

AfriForum and Solidarity pleaded with President Donald Trump’s administration to intervene in what they describe as a threat to Afrikaans culture and land rights after the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) and Expropriation acts were implemented.

"I was informed by the media that I am being investigated by the Hawks for complaints of high treason against AfriForum. I will not be having any sleepless nights over this as these complaints are baseless," Kriel said in a video message.

The dockets by the Hawks are understood to have been opened against AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement with Ilze Nieuwoudt on behalf of AfriForum further stating that there are no legal grounds for these investigations.

“There are no legal grounds for the charges of treason that have been brought against AfriForum. That is why Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, says he will not lose any sleep over it, and this civil rights organisation is ready for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) to investigate these charges," said Ilze Nieuwoudt.

On Monday, Kriel who is part of a delegation from AfriForum, Solidarity and the Solidarity Movement that has been meeting with politicians and other role players in the US to promote the interests of Afrikaners and South Africa responded from the US to the news that the Hawks are now investigating four charges of treason against AfriForum.

“There are simply no legal grounds for the charges, but should the state decide to continue with their actions against AfriForum, it will strengthen our position as it will show that there are indeed ANC leaders who abuse their power to govern against certain sections of the population,” Kriel said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Corné Mulder, Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) leader added his voice to the calls for high treason charges to be imposed against Kriel and his team saying the charges are currently under investigation by The Hawks, not only runs counter to sound legal principles, but also the actual consequences of ANC policy and state capture, which caused the country severe harm.

“The ANC should in no way be allowed to claim the sole right to convey its own, biased message to the world about the state of affairs in South Africa. The Zondo Commission clearly showed that the ANC covered up state capture, with the help of the National Assembly (NA), for years. So, the Hawks should rather start their investigation there if the government is at all serious about taking action against conduct bordering on high treason," Mulder said.

On the issue of farm murders, the group has questioned the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, regarding the numbers of farm murders between October and December 2024.

This comes after the minister requested for more information on the alleged murders after AfriForum contested his statistics.

On Monday, the group revealed that it has since furnished the minister with details of eight farm murders that took place between October and December 2024 after minister only recognised one farm murder.

"AfriForum has today furnished the minister with details of eight confirmed farm murders that occurred between October and December 2024. The minister questioned and reiterated the latest statistics by the SAPS (which) show that there was only one farm murder in there three months, but we dispute this figure and AfriForum argues that the minister is either uninformed or is deliberately attempting to downplay the scale of the farm murder crisis," AfriForum said.

The group's chief spokesperson for community safety, Jacques Broodryk, says AfriForum has been keeping track of these murders and accused the minister of playing politics instead of taking farm murders seriously.

"Minister Mchunu's claim communicates to families of the victims that farm murders are not a priority. We cannot allow politicking to take precedence over the reality of murders and the generally intolerable levels of crime in South Africa," said  Broodryk.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za