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ANCYL’s deputy president today told AfriForum Youth that he refuses to apologise for his recent statements about the safety of farmers, and indicated that he had no intention to stop with these statements. In its reaction AfriForum Youth indicated that this organisation would now proceed with a charge of hate speech in the Equality Court against Lamola. A criminal charge for intimidation and incitement of violence has already been lodged.

This development took place during talks today between the leadership of the two youth movements at Luthuli House. AfriForum Youth told ANCYL that their views on land reform are based on a gross misrepresentation of history, and that the debate should shift to one which seeks the truth about the history of land before assuming positions on land reform. AfriForum Youth also handed copies of the book, Land of Sorrow, to the ANCYL. This book contains information on 1 445 farmers who had been killed on farms during the past 20 years.

AfriForum Youth’s national chairman, Charl Oberholzer, said that the movement believes in attempting to diffuse political disputes through discussion and that it was for this very reason that AfriForum Youth had entered into discussions with ANCYL. “In this instance it is, however, clear that ANCYL is not prepared to change its views, not even when we requested that honesty be given precedence. The ANCYL made it clear that they are not prepared to apologise, or to give an undertaking to cease statements that incite racial hatred,” Oberholzer said. “We furthermore got the impression that the ANCYL is indifferent about the brutality and high incidence of farm murders,” Oberholzer said.

The ANCYL’s approach is not to promote land reform based on fact, but to transfer land from white to black. “Therefore, its point of departure is purely racial.”

Oberholzer added that the ANCYL was specifically asked to indicate which land had to be reformed and when such land had been “stolen”. However, they could not supply an answer.

In view of this, AfriForum Youth indicated that they would proceed with a second legal process against the ANCYL. “We view Lamola’s and the ANCYL’s statement in a very serious light and will therefore not hesitate to take serious steps to oppose it.