Q&A

AfriForum has been accused of playing race politics in going after Julius Malema. Chris Barron asked its CEO, KALLIE KRIEL . . .

NPA boss Shaun Abrahams says you jumped the gun . . .

If you look at what happened in the Duduzane case where Abrahams suddenly decided to do his job after we said we are going to prosecute him, the strategy works, and so we’re using the same strategy with regards to Julius Malema . . . the indication is there is no political will from the NPA to prosecute.

No political will or just plain incompetence?

I think it was scrapped by the judge because of their incompetence.

Not a lack of political will?

A combination of incompetence and lack of political will.

Given that Malema has been no friend of Zuma, wouldn’t the NPA have prosecuted him if it could?

Zuma would have been scared of the political implications.

Should you have been concerned about the political implications?

If we’re going to be intimidated by that it’s a dangerous route to go. It will ensure that some people are above the law. What would be politically shortsighted is not to hold Malema accountable. The more he thinks he is above the law, the more he will disrespect it.

If the NPA was just incompetent, that is likely to change soon, so why didn’t you wait?

We’re running out of time. The NPA needs to act within 36 months after the case has been scrapped.

That leaves four or five months . . .

Yes.

Despite the president knowing what kind of hate speech Malema is guilty of, and despite knowing the corruption, he invited him back to the ANC.

If you’re going to have a president driving politics without taking cognisance of the rule of law . . .

If you’re so concerned about the rule of law, why haven’t you found some apartheid criminals to prosecute?

We decided to close the book on the past.

We can only prosecute where the NPA has decided not to.

Did anything stop you from investigating apartheid crimes and asking the NPA to prosecute?

There was a negotiated settlement and we believe the book on the past should be closed.

Except when it comes to Malema’s relatively minor transgressions?

It’s not minor if you steal millions of rands of taxpayers’ money and go around polarising people.

Is this actually why you’re targeting him? Because of his anti-white statements?

We’ve taken him to the Equality Court for that.

How many of your supporters have you taken to the Equality Court for racist statements?

When one of our members made a racist statement we expelled that member.

How many members do you have?

208 000.

And you’ve expelled one for racism?

We take a strong stance against the use of racist terms.