MKP lays treason charges against AfriForum

The case was opened at SAPS Cape Town Central Police Station on Monday.

It's alleged that AfriForum's actions influenced Trump's decision to cut funding to South Africa.

His executive order also granted refugee status to Afrikaners, but AfriForum has rejected the offer, insisting they have no plans to leave the country.  

MK Party deputy president John Hlophe said AfriForum’s actions lobbying foreign powers against South Africa’s sovereignty and economic interests amount to treason.  

 "Their betrayal is nothing less than an act of economic sabotage, a direct assault on our nation's independence and a dangerous attempt to undermine the will of the people.

Under South African common law, treason is committed when an individual or group, with hostile intent, unlawfully engages in conduct aimed at undermining the authority, sovereignty or security of the state.

The courts have provided legal clarity on treason in several cases, establishing principles that remain applicable today.

 The manner in which AfriForum has engaged the Trump administration in the US meets this definition," Hlophe said.

Hlophe added there are landmark cases that reaffirmed that treason requires an overt act intended to undermine the state.

" It clarified that mere opposition to government policies is not treason—there must be deliberate conduct aimed at destabilizing or coercing the state.

" Furthermore, the courts ruled that collaborating with foreign actors to weaken the state constitutes treason, even if such plans are never fully realised.

"So AfriForum cannot be off the hook," Hlope said.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel, however, dismissed the charges as absurd, saying they won’t lose sleep over them.  

"It is the duty of civil society and organisations such as AfriForum to shine a light on legislation and actions that threaten the welfare of citizens and the country.

" We cannot keep quiet about the injustice that is being committed at the expense of South Africa, its citizens, and the South African economy.

 False allegations that AfriForum has spread ‘misleading information’ about the Expropriation Act and that this is the reason for the USA’s action against South Africa are blatant lies," Kriel said.

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