AfriForum Hits Back at ANC Over Wouter Basson Event Row

• AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel accused the ANC in Gauteng of lying about Dr Wouter Basson's appearance at the AfriForum Theatre
• Kriel defended the decision to hire out the venue to the Basson event, citing AfriForum's policy on venue rentals
• The AfriForum CEO also pushed back against claims the organisation promoted a 'white genocide' narrative

SOUTH AFRICA — AfriForum has accused the ANC in Gauteng of making false claims about Dr Wouter Basson's appearance at the AfriForum Theatre, calling the ruling party's characterisation of the event a deliberate lie.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel addressed the controversy in an interview with eNCA, stating that the organisation simply hired out its venue to those who organised the Basson event after they paid for it. He explained that AfriForum makes its facilities available to any party that has not been convicted of or charged with a crime.

AfriForum denies acting as a "censorship board"

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Kriel rejected the notion that his organisation should have blocked the event from taking place on its premises.

"We are not a censorship board like we had in apartheid," he said,

drawing a direct parallel to restrictions on public discourse during the apartheid era.

He went on to state that AfriForum does not condone any atrocities committed during that period, whether by the security forces or by the ANC itself.

Kriel also dismissed the allegation that AfriForum had promoted a "white genocide" narrative, describing it as a fabrication. He used the occasion to turn attention back to the ANC's governance failures, particularly in Gauteng.

"Get your act together, fix this province. We will not be prescribed to," he said.

View video here:

Kriel questions ANC's Mandate to speak for Black South Africans

Beyond the venue dispute, Kriel raised a broader political challenge, questioning the ANC's authority to position itself as the representative voice of Black South Africans. He argued that the party had forfeited that claim following its poor electoral performance and losing its majority

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"They must stop pretending they are speaking for Black people."

The remarks represent a sharp escalation in tensions between AfriForum and the Gauteng ANC, with both sides trading accusations of dishonesty over what began as a dispute about a theatre booking.

News of Wouter Basson practicing medicine enrages South Africa

Previously, Briefly News reported that South Africans reacted in shock and outrage after discovering that Dr. Wouter Basson was still practicing medicine at a Western Cape Mediclinic facility. Basson was a notorious figure of the apartheid-era government, he was in charge of the chemical and biological weapons programme between 1980 and 1990. Also known as Dr Death, Basson escaped prosecution after the ANC won the country's first free and fair elections. He had faced dozens of charges related to the work he had done.

Source: Briefly News