Panyaza Lesufi Apologises to AfriForum but Says He Never Lied About the Assassination Threat

• Panyaza Lesufi, the Gauteng MEC for Education, recently took back his remarks about AfriForum attempting to assassinate him
• He issued a statement to the public following talks with the organisation, expressing his regret for making the comments
• Lesufi was called a liar by a social media user, which led to him hitting back, saying that he would never back down from racists

JOHANNESBURG - People have accused Gauteng MEC of Education Panyaza Lesufi of backing down to racists following his recent statement addressing a tiff he had with AfriForum.

Lesufi recently issued a statement addressing the comments he made about AfriForum in 2020. He previously claimed that the civil organisation had threatened his life and was also stalking his children.

After going through a mediation process with the group, Lesufi issued an apology to the organisation, reports News24. The statement issued clarified that AfriForum had assured Lesufi that he and his family would not be harmed.

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He added that he regretted the comments he made at the time, however, he was receiving threats from different sources at the time.

AfriForum had taken Lesufi to court over his comments but stated that since Lesufi has apologised for his comments the organisation would not be pursuing any further action against him.

TimesLIVES reports that Lesufi believed that AfriForum was coming for him because of the comments he made about Orania, which is an Afrikaner-only community in the North West.

One social media user accused Lesufi of being a liar, which led him to hit back saying that he would never back down from racists.

Here are some of the comments from social media users:

@Deartroublegal said:

"There is no way we gonna allow racists in this day and age to keep on walking all over us. Walk tall our MEC, ska ba fa chance."

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@podlitiek said:

"He says, while backing down... "

@GustavTrieg said:

"Racists always see others as racist. Scared. The tide will turn, we have time."

@JS20830875 said:

"Where is the racism Lesufi? Would you like Afriforum to sue you again for defamation? Stop making baseless accusations."

@Akhona68027971 said:

"Why then did you apologize Phanyaza? You are giving our movement a bad name by your lies. First, it was assassination which includes your children political now you are trying to spin it into racism. Sies"

Lesufi says Orania "will go" in response to FF+ manifesto: “Forget about Orania and do you”

Briefly News previously reported that MEC for Education in Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi has shown what he believes is right in terms of Orania by sharing a post online stating that it "will go".

Lesufi was reacting to the FF+'s manifesto in which the party called for BEE and Affirmative Action to be eradicated.

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FF+ leader Pieter Groenewald revealed during the party's manifesto launch that it will not "tolerate" the country's BEE policy. Groenewald stated that he believes BEE stands for "black elite enrichment" rather than "black economic empowerment".

In his Twitter post, Lesufi wrote that Affirmative Action would stay in place until Groenewald's "ancestors' sins are eradicated". He further stated that he is not afraid and that Orania will fall no matter how much the party screams and shouts.

Source: Briefly News