The civil rights organisation AfriForum has sued the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, for defamation. This follows after Lesufi falsely accused AfriForum on 24 November 2019 that this organisation was trying, inter alia, to “assassinate” him.
AfriForum officially requested Lesufi to withdraw his statement – which he has not done. However, Lesufi also has not been able to provide any evidence of this so-called “assassination attempt”. In its summons, AfriForum demands an unconditional apology by Lesufi for his accusation and that he should bear the legal costs of the matter.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, it is time that Lesufi be held accountable for his polarising statements and outrageous lies.
“Lesufi tried to cover up his vendetta against Afrikaans schools by spreading lies that he supposedly would be the target of assassination attempts.”
Kriel added that it was a pity that a person such as Lesufi’s craving for attention and publicity had become so strong that he was even prepared to spread silly conspiracy theories.
“AfriForum is proud of the fact that we go about peacefully and in a democratic way to achieve our objectives, and for this reason we cannot allow AfriForum to be falsely portrayed as assassins.”
Lesufi has been given until the middle of July to indicate whether he is going to oppose AfriForum’s summons.
Lesufi’s tweet that AfriForum’s summons was linked to his statements concerning Orania is yet another lie told by Lesufi. The summons was served during the morning of 22 June, while Lesufi’s tweet on Orania was posted only later on the same day.