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The Higher Education Transformation Network (HETN), acting on behalf of
its alumni membership, has noted the ongoing idle threats propagated by
Mr Willie Spies of Afriforum against the Higher Education Transformation
Network (HETN) leadership in various news media.

The HETN Board will no longer tolerate the idle threats and defamatory
lies propagated by Mr Spies against the leadership of the HETN. It has
been over three weeks since Mr Spies threatened to serve summonses on
the HETN but to date no such summonses have been received.

The HETN will not be intimidated nor will it cower from advocating for
inclusive transformation and exposing racism in higher education but
will consistently stand by its standpoint and again reiterate its
disputing and rejection of the recent sham “election” of Mr Willie Spies
of Afriforum to the Council of the University of Pretoria on the basis
of “advancement of the general interests of the UP”.  The unfortunate
statements by Mr Spies on the HETN leadership are tantamount to
defamation and will be responded to accordingly.

Beyond being a spokesman and legal representative of Afriforum, Mr
Spies has as Chairperson of the Sonop Mens Hostel, presided over the
systematic victimization and exclusion of countless black students at
the Sonop Mens Hostel. Between 1990 and 1992, Mr Spies was a leader and
member of the Studentewag and Konserwatieve Party -Tuks, a student wing
of the Conservative Party at the university, a far right radical
grouping which managed amongst others to disrupt through sheer violence
the Honourable President Nelson Mandela’s visit to the UP in 1991 as
well as then-Minister Roelf Meyer’s address to students in 1993.

The fact that Mr Spies leads Tuks Alumni, an alumni body that is
predominantly white, excludes black alumni and a body that has under Mr
Spies’ leadership consistently refused to negotiate a revamped
Constitution that will include the participation of black alumni is a
course for great concern to the HETN. Apart from a few new token black
faces co-opted on the Tuks Alumni Board, black graduates have no
meaningful representation in the Tuks Alumni Board controlled by Mr
Spies and Afriforum.

Mr Spies was a key proponent supporting the creation of a Volkstaat and
played a key role in the support for the establishment of Orania. We
warn Mr Spies that we will not allow him to establish his own Volkstaat
at the University of Pretoria.

We once more challenge Mr Spies to disprove the fact that he was an
executive member of the racist Studentewag and KP-Tuks as well as
Chairperson of the Sonop Mens Hostel. We further advise Mr Spies to
immediately cease his defamatory statements about the HETN leadership
and instead commence with his long-awaited court action against the HETN
for defamation.

We advise Mr Spies to either commence litigation or shut his mouth
failing which the HETN will seek a court order of perpetual silence
against him.