AfriForum condemns all forms of racism 

22 August 2018

The civil rights organisation AfriForum strongly condemned the use of the racist “k-word” anew and appealed to the public to refrain from using this word. AfriForum also appealed to the public, media and opinion formers to be consistent in their condemnation of all racism. This follows after a video in which Adam Catzavelos used this word went viral on social media.

According to Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum, all forms of racism must be condemned. He, however, expressed his concern about the gross inconsistent condemnation of racism by opinion formers in South Africa. “AfriForum has already submitted 115 criminal charges against people who had incited the murder and even genocide of minorities. It is concerning that, when there is a call for violence against minorities, it receives almost no attention in mainstream media. When a white person, however, says something offensive about black people, it is regularly elevated to a national crisis.”

AfriForum recently published an analysis regarding the manner in which violence on farms is reported on. This analysis suggests that the race of the perpetrator is the biggest definitive factor regarding how the media will react to an incidence of violence. Following the analysis of more than 2 000 news articles, the organisation found that incidences of violence on farms where the perpetrator was white and the victim black, on average received 16 times more coverage than cases where the perpetrator was black and the victim white.

AfriForum will continue to consistently condemn all forms of racism.

Issued by Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO, AfriForum, 22 August 2018