Former President Thabo Mbeki has urged the Afrikaners facing issues in the country to engage in a national dialogue about the issues they face.
This call comes after the lobby group AfriForum traveled to the United States to report that their culture is under threat and targeted. In response, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to freeze assistance to South Africa due to concerns over the Expropriation Bill, which was passed at the end of January.
While addressing students at the University of South Africa (Unisa) on Friday, Mbeki emphasized that Afrikaners should raise their concerns domestically before seeking international support.
“I have heard some of the issues raised by some of our Afrikaner compatriots when they talk about alienation in society. I have said the best place to discuss those matters is in the national dialogue. Instead of people going to Washington to say ‘where are being…’, they must come to the National Dialogue and make that presentation. And so that all of us as South Africans can discuss.
“If you say my cultural right as an Afrikaner are being denied, say it in the national dialogue and produce evidence so that us as South Africans can discuss what needs to be done. The answer won’t come from Washington, it must come from here,” he said.
Mbeki said Afrikaners were welcome to talk internally about their issues
Aside from talking about issues Afrikaners are faced with, Mbeki criticised former ambassador Ibrahim Rasool for his comments on Donald Trump. He said the SA government must not make enemies with other countries.
“As a country, we must have a policy that says we are not looking for enemies. We must have a foreign policy that says we want friendly, mutually beneficial cooperation with everyone in the world,” he said.
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