Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says he will not be intimidated and silenced by lobby group, AfriForum. The civil rights organisation has confirmed that it is taking legal action against Lesufi over claims made in 2019 that Afriforum tried to assassinate him.
CEO Kallie Kriel says public figures must be held to account for making reckless statements.
However, Lesufi says the organisation is upset over his views on the Afrikaner-only town, Orania, in the Northern Cape.
My sin was to speak against #Orania like other previous attempts, this one will also fail. I hate racism with a passion but I am addicted to non racialism pic.twitter.com/QBCgTK8guE
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) June 27, 2020
The Gauteng Education MEC recently said that Orania should not be allowed to exist in the new South Africa.
Lesufi says he stands by his views that it can’t be acceptable that there is a community within the borders of the country that does not abide by the country’s laws.
“What they are doing is nothing, but intimidation and an attempt to silence me and I will not allow that. My legal team is ready. We will take it up. We have to find a way to allow the courts to preside over this matter. So the sooner the better. Obviously, they won’t directly say they are taking me to court on the issue of Orania, but they have ramped up their fight against me immediately after I’ve spoken openly Orania. Orania does not belong to a new South Africa. We don’t want a country within a country. You can’t have a country where there is a no-go area.”
On Friday, the Youth Parliament also called on the government to amend the Constitution to end the existence of Orania as a state operating on its own.
