Lobby group AfriForum has hit out against what it termed “offensive and inflammatory” statements directed at the organisation, specifically pointing to statements by government officials such as Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya and politicians such as African National Congress (ANC) national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri.

AfriForum has come under fire from various quarters in South Africa, following tensions with the US over the Expropriation Act, which many are blaming AfriForum for instigating.

The organisation made an urgent appeal following the distribution of a video on social media, which it said used “seriously offensive and threatening language”. It also accused government officials and political leaders of making apparently offensive and inflammatory statements that it said increased tension between cultural communities.

The organisation considered the statement by Bhengu-Motsiri that AfriForum “should not be left alone” in a very serious light.

“Her claim that the ANC’s ‘focus should be on uniting South Africans’ is not in line with the party’s divisive actions and statements towards AfriForum. Contrary to what she claims, it is the ANC’s domestic and foreign policies that have caused the damage to South Africa’s image,” said AfriForum intercultural relations and cooperation head Barend Uys.

He said it was also unacceptable for ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane to brand AfriForum as “unpatriotic” and “very racist”.

He explained that AfriForum acted in the interest of citizens.

The civil rights organisation also emphasised that the statement made by Magwenya, that AfriForum was “sowing racial divisions and sowing fear” was simply untrue.

“AfriForum actively works with different traditional communities and in towns across cultural boundaries to improve the living conditions of citizens at grassroots level. It is precisely statements by government officials like Magwenya and politicians such as Bhengu-Motsiri that, in reality, cause racial division and jeopardise peaceful coexistence in South Africa. The ANC is actually accusing AfriForum of what they themselves are guilty of,” he said.

AfriForum said such statements caused racial division and jeopardised peaceful coexistence in South Africa and urged mutual recognition and respect towards all cultural communities and citizens.