WATCH: Black Monday protesters want their ‘own state’, not unity

Protestors calling themselves the Black Monday movement marched to the US embassy and High Commission of Australia on Monday to hand in memorandums seeking to draw attention to what they call the “white genocide”.

Two organisers of the protests, National Conservative Party’s secretary-general Valerie Byliefeldt and leader Willie Cloete, were interviewed at the march.

In the interview, Cloete expressed the Black Monday movement’s desire for an independent Afrikaner state.

“We are not just murdered,” Cloete said. “Our whole culture, our language, and everything is downgraded.”

“We cannot still be here in South Africa,” he continued. “We want to get out of the unitary state, we want a state of our own,” he said, at which point one of his supporters shouts out: “Independence!”

READ MORE: Donald Trump must intervene in SA – Black Monday protesters

“We are leading the way for self-determination for our people,” he said, adding that his party is “not here to advocate violence” and would like to “do things in a legal way”.

He also mentioned that the National Conservative Party, which was formed in 2016 and has, so far, had little coverage in the media, wants to contest the 2019 elections and gain representation in parliament.

In another interview recorded by The Citizen’s Rorisang Kgosana, Byliefeldt expresses her desire to get Donald Trump to come to SA and see what “a farm murder looks like,” and justifies her controversial use of the term “white genocide” to describe farm murders.

She also stressed that “black farmers and black farm workers” are also targets of violence and that this “needs to stop”.

She accuses our media, particularly “liberal media”, of “turning a blind eye” and of discrediting AfriForum’s stats on farm murders due to the following of “an agenda”.

READ MORE: BCCSA rules in SABC’s favour on ‘Black Monday’ coverage

Probed on her definition of genocide, Byliefeldt said it is “when somebody goes out of his way to have only a certain group of people killed in South Africa”.

She also asserts that “more white people are being killed by black people than black are being killed by whites”.

When asked about her party’s quest for an independent state, she said that Cloete is the one to ask, but added that “all the processes have been approved by the necessary councils”.

She also stated, when asked what more police should be doing about farm murders, that “80% of police are corrupt” in what appeared to be a statistic made up on the spot.

In another interview, Byliefeldt reportedly told eNCA that the Black Monday movement was disappointed that AfriForum didn’t join today’s protest.

READ MORE: #BlackMonday – case of black and white?

“We are only vaguely aware of such an event,” said AfriForum deputy CEO Ernst Roets.

“I didn’t even know who the organisers were until I saw your SMS.

“We support the notion that awareness has to be raised about the crisis on South Africa’s farms. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the actual event, as we don’t know what transpired. If the organisers wish to use the platform to attack other organisations campaigning for the same cause, it’s very unfortunate, but we respect their right to do so.”

“AfriForum was only approached about a week ago about the March,” said the lobby group’s head of community safety Ian Cameron in a somewhat more diplomatic response.

“Unfortunately this does not give enough time to organise and successfully complete such a campaign. AfriForum will continue with the several campaigns against farm murders in South Africa and internationally. We will especially focus on telling the stories of victims who survived, but also those who weren’t lucky enough to tell their stories themselves.”

(Videos and additional reporting by Rorisang Kgosana)

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