AfriForum has lost its bid to overturn a Press Council ruling linked to a “white genocide” opinion piece.
Retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe dismissed AfriForum and campaigns officer Louis Boshoff’s application for leave to appeal on 24 June.
Ngoepe found that the application had “no reasonable prospects of success”.
The dispute centred on an opinion piece published by the Mail & Guardian on 17 April.
The piece said AfriForum and allied organisations framed targeted violence against white farmers in international advocacy as a form of “white genocide”.
Group challenged the claim
AfriForum argued that the statement was false.
The organisation said it had never claimed that a white genocide was taking place in South Africa.
It also argued that the article breached the Press Code and asked for a serious sanction against the publication.
However, Acting Press Ombud Johan Retief dismissed the complaint in May.
Retief found that the article was clearly an opinion piece protected under the Press Code’s section on comment, rather than a straight news report governed by factual accuracy rules.
AfriForum then applied for leave to appeal.
Judge backs ombud ruling
Ngoepe supported Retief’s original ruling.
He said AfriForum had “itself to blame” if its statements could be interpreted in different ways.
“If you say things which are open to all sorts of interpretations, you cannot complain later,” Ngoepe said.
He added that both the opinion writer and US President Donald Trump had reached similar conclusions based on AfriForum’s messaging.
Ngoepe said AfriForum had several chances to dispel the impression that it was advancing a “white genocide” narrative.
Press Council case dismissed
Retief’s original ruling found that the opinion piece did not state as fact that AfriForum had explicitly declared a white genocide was taking place.
Instead, it interpreted how the organisation presented its international advocacy.
Retief also referred to an interview in which AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel declined to reject Trump’s claim that a white genocide was taking place.
The acting ombud said AfriForum’s own conduct created ambiguity around its position.
Ngoepe concluded that the appeal had no reasonable prospects of success.
The application was dismissed.