Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel. Picture: Jacques Nelles
AfriForum has threatened legal action against social media posts associating the organisation with several suspects arrested in connection with various crimes in recent months.
In July, the Hawks arrested four suspects following the discovery of a drug lab in Groblersdal in Limpopo.
The Hawks received information about suspicious activities taking place at the farm. The information was operationalised and the multi-disciplinary team pounced on the farm.
Four structures were searched and large quantities of chemicals used in the manufacturing of illicit drugs were recovered. The chemicals had an estimated street value of R2 billion.
READ MORE: Hawks uncover R1 billion drug lab in Limpopo, farm owner and two Mexicans arrested
One of the suspects was allegedly AfriForum’s Limpopo chairperson, according to social media posts.
AfriForum has denied any link to the suspect.
Last month, two women, Maria Makgota, 47, and Locadia Ndlovu, 34, were murdered and their alleged killers fed their bodies to pigs at a farm in Mpumalanga.
Zachariah Olivier, Adriaan de Wet and William Musoro face multiple charges, including two counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and defeating the ends of justice.
They appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where their bail bid was postponed to next month.
Several social media posts have linked Olivier to AfriForum, further questioning the organisation’s silence on the matter.
ALSO READ: Limpopo pigsty murders: EFF demands meat industry cut ties with farm
However, AfriForum says claims that Olivier is its member are false.
Last month, black businessmen in Hartbeespoort in North West alleged that their businesses were being targeted by their white counterparts.
White businesses were accused of trying to drive out black business in the area. This after two businesses belonging to black entrepreneurs burned down.
AfriForum was linked to the white businessmen allegedly behind the arson incidents, a claim it has denied.
The organisation has slammed the “serious and malicious fake news campaign” that it said it is being run on social media in an attempt to defame it.
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It said it had already sent certain social media users demands to immediately stop the distribution of the “false, misleading and defamatory content”, remove the posts and post corrections.
Legal action will be taken against those who continue to share the allegations, said the organisation on Tuesday.
“These falsehoods have made AfriForum a target, but the civil rights organisation wants to make it clear that these allegations are not only untrue, but are divisive at a time when South Africa is taking a new political direction,” said Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s chief spokesperson for community safety.
“There is no truth in these allegations and no AfriForum members were involved in these gruesome crimes. This is just another desperate attempt to overshadow AfriForum’s work with falsehoods.”
Broodryk further dismissed allegations that it was a terrorist organisation.
“This statement is absurd, untrue and a clear attempt to cast the civil rights organisation and its members in a poor light. AfriForum believes in mutual respect and cooperation between communities, therefore these attempts to sow polarisation are strongly condemned.”
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