Afriforum is a South African organisation which focuses on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. Afriforum was established by the trade union Solidarity in 2006 and is officially registered as a non-governmental organisation. The organisation frequently advocates for and against a range of issues in South Africa.Diamond, Jonathan, Solidarity: South Africa's Majority White Union Adapts to the Post-Apartheid World (1 May 2010). Institute for Research on Labor and Employment's Strategic Decision-Making in Labor and Social Movement Organizations Conference, May 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1980341
Afriforum's detractors have variously described it as an alt-right, Afrikaner nationalist, and/or white supremacist organisation. Afriforum describes itself as a "pro-minority," as opposed to a "pro-white," organisation and its membership as having what are regarded as typically politically centrist views.
History AfriForum was founded in 2006 following public consultations about its charter. AfriForum refers to itself as a citizen's rights initiative founded by the trade union Solidarity.
By January 2022, AfriForum had 295,000 contributing members.
Its leader, Kallie Kriel, was previously a member of the Conservative Party, as well as a leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) youth wing, and a large number of its executive leadership were formerly associated with Freedom Front Plus.
Campaigns, policies and projects Afriforum often acts as a lobbying group. Issues it has lobbied on range from resisting the name change of Pretoria to Tshwane to advocating for a free-market economy within South Africa whilst opposing policies it sees as socialist.
Education, language and culture AfriForum has strongly opposed the proposed renaming of South Africa's capital from Pretoria to Tshwane, as well as street renaming in Pretoria. The organisation campaigns to promote the use of Afrikaans in education and to keep religion in schools.
Land
AfriForum is involved in the South African land reform debate. They have blamed the "corruption" and "incompetence" of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for the slow pace of land reform.
AfriForum has assisted black landowners who were victims of squatters.
The organisation appeared before a parliamentary committee to oppose proposed constitutional amendments to allow for expropriation without compensation. In August 2018, AfriForum published a list of farms that they claimed were targeted by the government for expropriation without compensation, which the organisation claimed to have received from an anonymous source. Several organisations and political parties criticised the legitimacy of the list. The South African Institute for Race Relations claimed that the list was legitimate.
AfriForum successfully complained about a column published on News24 by journalist Pieter du Toit regarding its testimony before the parliamentary committee discussing amending the constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation.
Racism and hate speech campaigns Julius Malema, then President of the ANCYL, at the University of Johannesburg in 2010 sang the song "Dubul' ibhunu" in the context of post-1994 South Africa's slow resolution to the problem unequal distribution of land ownership along racial lines.Gunner, Liz (2015). "Song, Identity and the State: Julius Malema's 'Dubul' Ibhunu' Song as Catalyst". Journal of African Cultural Studies, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 326–341. Accessed 28 January 2024. Four weeks after Malema's 2010 singing of the song, Eugène Terre'Blanche; a farmer, white supremacist, convicted criminal and founder of the Afrikaner nationalist and neo-Nazi paramilitary group, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging; was murdered on his farm by a black employee. Following these event, AfriForum opened a civil case against Malema alleging that his use of the song was a provocation to racial violence and hate speech.
It was initially ruled that the song constituted hate speech, but after several rounds of appeals, the highest court in South Africa - the constitutional court - ultimately on 27 March 2025 refused AfriForum leave to appeal, holding that the application "bears no reasonable prospects of success".
AfriForum has laid criminal charges against other political figures, and social media users that it deemed to be inciting violence and racism, In June 2011, AfriForum said that they plan to lay criminal charges against 100 social media users for incitement of violence. and created a unit against racism and hate speech. It also addressed racist incidents involving a number of people, Dan Roodt, and the paramilitary Kommandokorps and has stated that it regards the use of the 'k-word' kaffir to be a "gross human rights violation".
In 2020, AfriForum opened a hate speech case against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party for six instances between 2016 and 2019 for singing "shoot the boer" at different events. In late August the Johannesburg High Court dismissed the case with costs. Ernst Roets testified as an expert witness with the judge saying that he failed to meet the standards required. AfriForum has stated that it will appeal.
Minority rights AfriForum has engaged with the UN on matters pertaining to minorities' rights and has been officially recognized as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special advisory status. The group has criticized the governing African National Congress (ANC) for what it sees as a denial of minority rights in the nation. However, former City Press journalist Adriaan Basson has accused the organisation of overreacting to the situation regarding minority rights. Basson stated in an open letter to AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, that the premise of AfriForum's campaigns is one of victimhood.
International lobbying Afriforum claimed credit for taking an Australian journalist on a tour of South Africa, and for the "dozens" of articles detailing violent attacks on farms that subsequently appeared in the Australian media.
AfriForum also undertook a tour of the United States that included meetings with John R. Bolton, staffers for Senator Ted Cruz, and an interview on Fox News. AfriForum toured Australia in October 2018 to raise awareness of farm attacks. Ian Cameron from AfriForum was interviewed on Sky News Australia's program Outsiders by Ross Cameron and Rowan Dean. AfriForum also delivered a presentation before the Parliament of Western Australia.
Zimbabwe The group contested the presence of Robert Mugabe at the 2009 inauguration of Jacob Zuma. It was also involved in a bid to prevent the delivery of Alouette III Air Force helicopters to the Zimbabwean army.
In 2010 a legal team for AfriForum representing farmers in Zimbabwe won a court bid to sue Zimbabwe's government over its "cruel" and "vengeful" expropriation of South African-owned farms. In 2008 the regional court SADC tribunal ruled that Zimbabwe's land reform was illegal and racist, and that those who had suffered discrimination by having their farms expropriated had the right to compensation.
Local government AfriForum encourages communities to become self-sufficient. Activities undertaken have included a pothole fixing campaign. According to the organization, such initiatives are part of its strategy to hold government responsible for service delivery, and are sometimes supported by local municipalities.
In order to achieve this goal, AfriForum attempts to establish partnerships with municipalities. The organisation allegedly submits wish lists to municipalities, and municipalities convert it into action plans to address issues. AfriForum says if municipalities do not cooperate in improving service delivery to residents, the organisation approaches courts to order municipalities to enforce service delivery.
An example of intervention by AfriForum in this regard was the urgent order awarded to the organisation against the Vhembe District Municipality by the High Court in Pretoria, forcing the municipality to supply water to Makhado residents. In a similar case in 2013, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted AfriForum an order stopping the Madibeng Municipality from cutting electricity supply to Hartbeespoort.
In June 2025, in a case brought forward by Afriforum, the Free State High Court ordered the dissolution of the Ngwathe Local Municipality due to longstanding failures to fulfil its duties to residents, compelling the Free State provincial government to step in.
AfriForum's local government interventions have been described positively, even by its critics.
Other campaigns and positions AfriForum has opposed fracking in the Karoo as well as poaching. It has also campaigned against electronic road tolling in Gauteng.
AfriForum was accepted as amicus curiae (friend of the court) during a number of court cases. Cases where AfriForum acted as amicus curiae, included those allowing voters overseas to vote in South African elections, protecting mineral rights from expropriation, and allowing public schools to promote adherence to only one or predominantly one religion during their religious school activities. AfriForum also acted as amicus curiae (later co-applicant) in a 2017 case against the Minister of Sports and Recreation, and the Olympic Committee, opposing racial quotas in sport after it was discovered that the racial quotas were being applied in the national netball team selection process.
AfriForum Jeug (youth wing) AfriForum's youth wing is called AfriForum Jeug. It operates as a student organisation with branches at South African universities.
AfriForum Jeug focuses on education issues, including mother tongue education, political interference in student affairs, and affirmative action at universities. A core objective of AfriForum Jeug is for youth to be exempted from affirmative action. The group's non-university activities include organising adventure camps for school learners and fundraising for children's homes. The youth wing claims that one of their biggest aims is to promote "the Christian democratic framework". AfriForum Jeug claims that they focus more on "Afrikaans" interests instead of "Afrikaner" interests.
In 2010, three AfriForum Jeug members were arrested after violating an outdoor advertising by-law to protest the proposed name change of Pretoria.
In 2012, a campaign against racial quotas in higher education saw AfriForum Jeug members paint themselves black to protest the alleged discrimination against 30 learners who were turned away from the University of Pretoria.
In February 2012, AfriForum Jeug joined the South African Progressive Civic Organisation (Sapco), a Khoisan community, in a protest over the land rights of the indigenous group, with both minority groups feeling they have no representation in the current government.
In February 2013 AfriForum Jeug brought a complaint of hate speech against Jason Mfusi, leader of South African Students Congress), who on social media had posted, "My grandfather says 'n goeie boer is 'n dooie boer" ("a good farmer is a dead farmer"). An agreement by means of a mediation process, as requested by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of the university, and Mfusi had to issue a written apology to the farming community.
In April 2013, a campaign protesting against racial quotas involved charging students of different races different prices for a cup of coffee, with white students paying R5 a cup, coloured and Indians R3, and blacks R1.
In 2014 AfriForum Jeug demanded that the North-West University reject a report into a Nazi-style initiation ceremony at the university's Potchefstroom campus, claiming that the report discriminated against Afrikaners. The report was originally commissioned by Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande as an investigation into "the initiation practices and acts of Fascism and Nazism which seem to exist at the institution".