Solidarity’s European envoy’s briefing muzzled

An attempt by a South African to get a platform in the Netherlands to convince the populace that Afrikaners are being discriminated against or targeted for an alleged genocide has been stopped by a lobby group of South African expats in that country.

The manager of Oudaen Restaurant in Utrecht cancelled a guest appearance by trade union Solidarity’s European ambassador Jaco Kleynhans yesterday.

This was after a protest by the African-European Indaba (AEI), a lobby group founded by expat Johan Stoet de Villiers, who is based in the capital Amsterdam.

Kleynhans, a resident of Orania in the Northern Cape, was scheduled to address the audience at Oudaen about farm killings and land expropriation without compensation, and how the ANC-led government had failed to act to stop the killings.

The meeting was part of an international campaign by several minority groupings to convince foreign countries that Afrikaners are being targeted and that their culture was being undermined.

De Villiers said the Oudaen Restaurant venue had been cancelled but the event organisers continued to sell tickets and had moved the date to December 21, adding that the new venue hadn’t been announced.

Kleynhans’ audience were promised a dinner registration at a cost of €40 (R642) per person.

In a posted advertisement about Kleynhans coming to Oudaen, he was said to be “our guest on behalf of various organisations that stand up for the interests of the farmers”. He was also billed to be interviewed by a mystery guest: “a man with a lot of knowledge about South Africa, who will also moderate the dialogue with the audience”.

An attempt to get comment from four senior Solidarity leaders failed yesterday as their phones rang unanswered.